Amazon's 'Project Dawn' Accidentally Exposed Major Layoffs Coming

Just months after cutting 14,000 corporate jobs, Amazon is preparing another wave of widespread layoffs—and this time, the company accidentally revealed its own plans.

The Mistaken Email That Said Too Much

On Tuesday, Amazon sent cloud computing staff an email acknowledging "organizational changes" at the company. The message, which included "Project Dawn" in the subject line, was quickly recalled—but not before employees got a glimpse of what's coming.

"Changes like this are hard on everyone," wrote Colleen Aubrey, senior vice president of applied AI solutions at Amazon Web Services, in the email viewed by CNBC. "These decisions are difficult and are made thoughtfully as we position our organization and AWS for future success."

The note referenced a post from Amazon's HR boss Beth Galetti and mentioned that the company had "notified impacted colleagues in our organization." The recall notice attached to the email only confirmed what many suspected: more cuts are imminent.

The Continuing Efficiency Drive

This latest round follows Amazon's elimination of 14,000 corporate positions just months ago, with CEO Andy Jassy promising the cuts would continue into 2026 as the company found "additional places we can remove layers."

Jassy has been explicit about his strategy: reduce management layers and bureaucracy while positioning the company for an AI-driven future. Last June, he predicted that efficiency gains from artificial intelligence would naturally shrink Amazon's corporate workforce in the coming years.

According to sources familiar with the matter, both the cloud computing and retail divisions—Amazon's core profit centers—are expected to face cuts. This signals that no part of the company is immune from the restructuring.

The Broader Big Tech Reckoning

Amazon's approach reflects a broader trend across Silicon Valley. Meta, Google, and Microsoft have all conducted significant layoffs while simultaneously investing billions in AI infrastructure. The message is clear: human workers are increasingly seen as inefficient compared to algorithmic alternatives.

But Amazon's situation carries particular weight. The company went on a massive hiring spree during the pandemic, adding hundreds of thousands of workers globally between 2020 and 2021. Now, as growth normalizes and AI capabilities expand, those "excess" hires are being systematically eliminated.

For investors, this represents the maturation of a growth company into an efficiency-focused operation. For the 1.5 million people Amazon employs worldwide, it signals an era of perpetual job insecurity.

The Human Cost of Algorithmic Efficiency

What makes this wave different is the explicit connection to AI replacement. Unlike previous tech layoffs driven by economic downturns or strategic pivots, these cuts are predicated on the belief that artificial intelligence can simply do the work better.

The irony isn't lost on observers: a company built on the promise of human innovation is now betting its future on replacing those same humans. The "Project Dawn" codename suggests management sees this as a new beginning—but for whom?