Andy Jassy continually explaining Amazon’s AI bets is something other CEOs can learn from

Yesterday, I listened to Amazon’s annual shareholder meeting, which was about as unexciting as any big, powerful company could hope for. Investors voted down all shareholder proposals, which called for more oversight over or transparency from the tech titan.

But I did find it noteworthy that Amazon CEO Andy Jassy used this forum as another opportunity to build trust in Amazon’s heavy AI spending spree, as I wrote yesterday. The tech giant is unleashing around $100 billion in capital expenditures this year, primarily focused on this space, compared to $78 billion in 2024. And the way he’s explaining and justifying those costs to stakeholders is something that other chief executives could potentially learn from.

The CEO cited gen AI uses across two realms: “cost avoidance and productivity” and “altogether new customer experiences.” In the first bucket, he referenced the company’s existing core customer service chatbot, which was rearchitected using gen AI, as well as gen AI tools that help Amazon sellers create new listings quicker, and ones that help the company forecast customer demand for inventory more accurately. In the second bucket, Jassy breezed through a bevy of customer-facing products, from the Rufus shopping assistant to the new Alexa Plus voice assistant, which the company began rolling out to a limited customer base last month.

Jassy’s continued focus on explaining the company’s AI bets publicly—both here as well as recently on the company’s earnings calls and at company events for the press and partners—might sound repetitive for ultra-close observers of the company like me.

But the consistency seems like a smart move for a CEO with so many stakeholders to worry about—shareholders, shopping customers, AWS customers, sellers, corporate and front-line employees, and potential talent as well.

Obviously the advantage Jassy has, that many other CEOs don’t, is a bevy of consumer-facing gen AI-powered products that are easier for the general public, and internal employee base, to focus on rather than some of the thornier—maybe more mainstream use cases initially being adopted by other companies. 

That’s to say for every Rufus or Alexa Plus or AI-powered customer review summary box that Jassy can point to, many smaller companies are staring down initial gen AI use cases that focus on replacing human work or, at a minimum, reducing the amount of work necessary for human staff—with workforce reduction a natural result if not a goal. And messaging that to the public is a much trickier task. 

More news below.

Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com.

Top news

Amazon CEO defends AI spend

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy defended the company’s extraordinary AI spending during the company’s annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday, listing Amazon’s use cases for the technology and promising that shareholders will be “very happy.” The ecommerce giant is expecting to spend $100 billion on AI and AI-related infrastructure this year.

Target earnings disappoint

Target announced a total sales drop of nearly 3% in Q1 that CEO Brian Cornell attributes to tariff uncertainty and an ongoing boycott of the retailer after it rolled back DEI initiatives in January. The company also revealed that Christina Hennington, chief strategy and growth officer, and Amy Tu, chief legal officer, have left their roles.

OpenAI’s $6.5 billion acquisition

OpenAI stated they are acquiring io, an AI product startup founded by the creator of the iPhone, for $6.5 billion on Wednesday. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman described io’s product, which has not yet been released to the public, as “the coolest piece that the world will have ever seen.”

Shooting in Washington

Two Israeli embassy staff members were shot and killed outside an event at the Jewish museum in Washington on Wednesday night by a man who shouted “free, free Palestine,” according to law enforcement officials.

The markets

• The S&P 500 fell 1.61% Tuesday. The index is down 0.6% YTD. 
• S&P futures traded down 0.2% this morning. 
• The Stoxx Europe 600 was down 0.7% in early trading. 
• Asia was up down: Japan was down 0.8%. Hong Kong down 1.1%. Shanghai was down 0.8% and India’s Nifty 50 was down 1.1%.
• The Mag7 was down with the exception of Alphabet, up nearly 3%.
• Bitcoin was sitting up at approximately $110,600 this morning.

From the analysts 

• JPMorgan on Google: We come away from Google I/O incrementally positive as we believe Google is leading in many areas of AI with Gemini at the top of foundational model leaderboards, AI Mode bringing Gemini into Search and incorporating agentic capabilities from Astra, Mariner, & Deep Research, and Gemini becoming widely available across numerous platforms (iOS & Android) & device types (smartphones, wearables, & auto). Importantly, Google’s product innovation is accelerating — the company is shipping faster than ever — and AI Mode in Search is rolling out to US users just 1 year after AI Overviews were introduced. 
• Goldman Sachs on equity markets: Equity markets have relaxed over the past month following a succession of positive trade-related developments between the 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs and the recent tariff reduction with respect to China. Tariff rates are now lower, but not low, and the same can be said about recession risks in the US. The lowering of trade tensions means that even if hard data ‘catch down’ to the surveys, there is likely to be a greater willingness to look through the weakness. But as recession risks have compressed, risks from higher rates are growing. The US still faces the worst growth-inflation mix of the major economies, and as the fiscal bill makes its way through Congress, eroding US exceptionalism is proving (literally) costly at a time of large funding needs.

Around the watercooler

Elon Musk brushes off fears of Tesla’s demand problem and denies declining sales: ‘They’re fine, don’t worry about it’ by Christiaan Hetzner

Microsoft’s and Google’s dueling developer conferences reveal opposite AI strategies—and a big weakness for one company by Jeremy Kahn

Phillips 66 and Elliott’s contentious proxy battle ends in split vote over fight to break up energy giant by Jordan Blum

Elon Musk denies SpaceX is the frontrunner for Trump’s $500 billion ‘Golden Dome’ missile-defense project: ‘This is not true’ by Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez

Google exec reveals how the company prevents burnout: ‘You have to be able to recognize when somebody on your team is struggling’ by Steve Mollman

CEO Daily is compiled and edited by Joey Abrams and Massimo Marioni.