Leaked document reveals 'Maverick,' a new Amazon AI security initiative led by Uber's former CISO

Amazon has launched a new internal security program devoted to generative artificial intelligence, as the retail giant continues to double down on the still burgeoning technology.

The new initiative, dubbed "Maverick," focuses on building new tools and fostering collaboration across Amazon to address the security and risk of Generative AI and large language models, according to an internal document obtained by Insider.

The project is led by four executives, including John "Four" Flynn, VP and chief information security officer of Amazon's retail business. Flynn was Uber's CISO until 2020 before joining Amazon.

"In Q2 2023, Amazon Security created the Maverick program to ensure LLM based experiences uphold our high security standards to protect customer data and trust. Maverick's approach is to partner with teams exploring GenAl opportunities, centralize and share security best practices, and be the Center of Excellence for developing GenAI securely at the scale of Amazon," the document said.

In an email to Insider, Amazon's spokesperson, Adam Montgomery, said Amazon has a "deep commitment to the safe, secure, and responsible development and deployment of generative AI."

"Our company-wide approach to secure AI development paves the way for a future that enhances the benefits of AI and helps minimize risks," the statement said.

Maverick is part of Amazon's growing effort to build a bigger presence in the generative AI space. Despite having worked in various AI technologies for decades, Amazon hasn't yet been able to capitalize on the popularity of GenAI like rivals Microsoft, OpenAI, and Google. Meta's latest Llama 2 model is also making waves across the industry.

Amazon has internally asked almost every team to come up with ideas that take advantage of the generative AI and ChatGPT-like chatbot technologies. CEO Andy Jassy recently promoted an Alexa executive to lead a new group working on the company's "most ambitious" language models, as Insider previously reported.

The Amazon Web Services cloud unit also created an independent team focused on helping customers use generative AI, Insider previously reported. AWS rolled out new AI products like Bedrock, a service that makes other foundational models accessible, and Code Whisperer, an AI coding tool, in 2022.

The new Maverick initiative wants to "understand GenAI risks" to Amazon and create "centralized GenAI security testing tools," according to the internal document.

To do so, Maverick is focused on two areas. The first is tooling to "automate secure development, reviews, and testing" of GenAI models and applications. The second involves partnering with security teams to "create GenAI security guidance and add specific tasks to existing security mechanisms," the document added.

"We are consolidating risks, creating guidance, and developing tools to enable security," it stated.

LLMs are one of the main underlying technologies for AI services. These models are trained on huge datasets to generate human-like responses. Companies including OpenAI, Google, and Meta have built massive, powerful LLMs that have wowed the tech world. Amazon also has its own, including Alexa Teacher Model and Titan.

During Amazon's earnings call earlier this month, Jassy told analysts that AI is a top company priority, and a "significant investment and focus for us."

"On the AI question, what I would tell you, is every single one of our businesses inside of Amazon, every single one has multiple generative AI initiatives going on right now," Jassy said during the call.

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Alexa, Who's at the Front Door? Control Your Home Security System by Voice

Amazon Alexa voice commands can lend a serious helping hand around the home, adjusting your smart thermostat, smart lights and other connected smart home devices. Perhaps you didn't know that Alexa can also control your home security system. Simple voice commands will activate and operate Amazon's own Alexa Guard security service and connect to a long list of other smart security devices, including Ring or Blink video doorbells.

You can easily connect your home security cameras and security systems to Alexa. Mostly this will apply to people who own an Echo Show or an Echo Show smart display, due to the visual component inherent to interacting with a video camera. 

Below, we'll show you how to use Amazon's trusty voice assistant with your home security devices, and how to set things up in a few easy steps.

For more home security tips, find out the best places to put your security cameras and how to prevent your home security cameras from being hacked. 

There are too many Alexa-compatible security cameras to list, but here are some of the models I've tested that work with Amazon's voice assistant:

While there's variation in how Alexa works with each home security camera, there's a lot of overlap too. Using the Ring Stick Up Cam Wired as a guide, we're going to walk through the steps to connect it to Alexa -- and outline the commands you can use with it. 

We're starting out with the assumption that you've already installed and configured your Alexa-compatible home security camera -- and that you have an Alexa-enabled smart speaker. Have questions about how to set up a Stick Up Cam? Check out this Ring support page.

Now you need to log in to your Alexa app, or create an account if you don't already have one. Simply download the Alexa app and follow the prompts to sign in/register a new account. 

Read more: Ultimate Alexa Command Guide: 200+ Voice Commands You Need to Know for Your Echo

Open the Alexa app and select Skills & Games in the menu. Type "Ring" in the search box (or the name of whatever camera you have), open the skill and select Enable.

You'll be asked to enter your Ring account credentials to pair your Ring account to the Alexa app. You're almost ready to start using Alexa commands with a Ring camera, but first you need to...

After you've enabled the Ring skill, select Discover Devices on the app screen that pops up -- or ask your smart speaker to find the new device or devices by saying, "Alexa, discover devices."

Note: All of the above steps are identical regardless of the specific Alexa-enabled camera you buy. The one exception is the Amazon Cloud Cam, which is linked to the Alexa skill automatically by Amazon so you can install the camera and start using Alexa commands right away.

Enable the Ring skill in the Alexa app and select "Discover Devices."

Now that you've enabled the Ring skill and asked Alexa to discover any new devices, you're ready to control your Ring Stick Up Cam Wired via Alexa. 

Note: Make sure you use a unique name for each device. Having multiple devices with the same or similar names makes it difficult for Alexa to differentiate, and the voice commands may not work as a result. 

Here's what you can ask Alexa to do with a Ring Stick Up Cam:

Again, the specific commands and available features vary slightly from one camera to the next, but this is roughly what you can expect to be able to do via Alexa when you connect a compatible security camera. 

With the Amazon Cloud Cam, for instance, you can ask Alexa to turn your camera on. You wouldn't need a screen-equipped Alexa speaker to do that, either. You could use anything from an Echo Dot to an Echo Show. 

Select cameras also let you review saved clips on an Alexa-enabled smart display. Cloud Cam customers can say, "Alexa, show me the most recent person at the front door." Arlo security camera users can say, "Alexa, show the last motion detected by my front door camera" to view the latest activity. 

Using Alexa with a home security camera adds convenience. You can use a smart display screen in the middle of your house to quickly and easily see who's at the door right now -- or to review past footage. Just make sure you have compatible devices and you'll be using Alexa to check in on your camera (or cameras) in no time. 

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