Amazon Appoints Veteran AWS Executive Peter DeSantis to Lead New AI Organization

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced on Wednesday that longtime AWS executive Peter DeSantis will lead a newly formed, AI-focused division within the company, according to an internal announcement shared with employees.

This new organization will oversee Amazon's AI models, including its Nova series, as well as silicon chip development and quantum computing initiatives—technologies critical to enhancing the speed and efficiency of next-generation AI tools.

DeSantis has been with Amazon for 27 years, serving eight of those as Senior Vice President at AWS, the cloud computing arm that supports roughly one-third of global internet traffic. The formation of this dedicated AI unit follows Amazon’s recent re:Invent conference, where it reaffirmed its strategic commitment to enterprise AI adoption, making the creation of a specialized team from its core AWS leadership a natural progression.

"With the recent launch of our Nova 2 model at re:Invent, the rapid growth of our custom silicon efforts, and the clear advantages in optimizing across models, chips, and cloud software and infrastructure, we want Peter to focus his energy, innovation cycles, and leadership on these emerging areas," Jassy wrote.

Amazon's intensified focus on AI comes as the tech giant seeks to strengthen its position in the competitive AI landscape—often through strategic investments rather than organic innovation alone. Last month, AWS unveiled plans to invest $50 billion in AI infrastructure for U.S. government projects. Reports also suggest Amazon is in talks to invest $10 billion in OpenAI and has already committed $8 billion to Anthropic, a major competitor to OpenAI.