After less than two years at Amazon, David Luan, the head of Amazon’s San Francisco AI lab, is leaving the company. Luan announced the news in a LinkedIn post on Tuesday, stating, “I’ll be leaving Amazon at the end of this week to cook up something new.” He added that while there is “incredible work to be done at Amazon” and many opportunities for growth, the proximity of artificial general intelligence (AGI) has led him to focus entirely on advancing AI systems with entirely new capabilities. Luan’s departure comes at a time when Amazon is facing increasing pressure to catch up in the fast-evolving AI landscape. Internal reports and employee feedback suggest that some are criticizing Amazon’s in-house AI products as underwhelming, with one common nickname being “Amazon Basics.” Despite recent efforts, including the rollout of Alexa Plus—Amazon’s upgraded AI assistant available to all U.S. users—early adopters have expressed mixed reactions, with some preferring the original Alexa experience. Luan joined Amazon in 2024 alongside other engineers from his startup, Adept, which specialized in AI agent technology that Amazon acquired and integrated into its own AI initiatives. During his tenure, he led work on Amazon’s Nova AI models, including the Nova Act AI agent, which was introduced as a research preview in March. Act was designed to perform complex tasks such as conducting web searches, placing orders, and answering questions—functions that Amazon positioned as key to the future of its AI-powered services, including Alexa Plus. The company stated at launch that Nova Act was already being used in the Alexa Plus platform. Luan’s exit underscores the intense competition for top AI talent and the challenges Amazon faces in building cutting-edge AI systems that can rival those of OpenAI, Google, and Meta. His decision to step away from corporate roles and focus solely on pushing the boundaries of AI capability reflects a broader trend among leading AI researchers who believe the next phase of AI development demands full-time dedication to foundational innovation.