The head of Amazon's AWS cloud computing business, Adam Selipsky, who was helping lead the company's expansion into AI, told workers he was stepping down Tuesday.

Amazon Web Services is a key subsidiary of the tech giant, having made $25 billion worldwide in the first quarter, capitalizing on the growing appetite among businesses for remote computer and artificial intelligence services.

In a memo to staff, Selipsky said he was leaving with "mixed emotions," but "given the state of the business and the leadership team, now is an appropriate moment for me to make this transition."

Selipsky was promoted to the leadership of AWS in 2021, replacing Andy Jassy, who took over the reins of the entire Amazon juggernaut when founder Jeff Bezos stepped down as CEO.

Matt Garman, senior vice president of sales and marketing at AWS, will succeed Selipsky, Amazon said.

"Matt has an unusually strong set of skills and experiences for his new role," said Amazon CEO Jassy.

A pioneer of e-commerce, Amazon also dominates the cloud. AWS had 31 percent of the cloud computing market at the end of 2023, according to Stocklytics.

But rivals Microsoft and Google are gaining ground with their cloud businesses, with 24 percent and 11 percent market share respectively.

The race has become particularly heated since the deployment of ChatGPT-style artificial intelligence that the cloud companies are offering to clients who want to buy into the AI revolution.

But AWS is less known to the public and Amazon does not have the flagship AI brands such as ChatGPT or Google's Gemini that are being deployed across those firms' lines of products.

AWS in April cut hundreds of jobs, particularly in sales and marketing, to better focus on AI and other priorities.

But Selipsky told AFP in an interview on April 13 that AI has not replaced any of the cloud platform workers.

"AWS has thousands of job postings online today, and yesterday, and the day before, and we will also have (them) tomorrow," he said.

© 2024 AFP