Amazon Bedrock AI service officially launches in Sydney

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced the general availability of Amazon Bedrock, a service aimed at optimising the development and scaling of generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications, in the Asia Pacific (Sydney) region.

Amazon Bedrock assists customers in locating and leveraging high-performing models to cater to their specific requirements. It provides potent functionalities for the creation and expansion of generative AI applications. Coming on the heels of its global unveiling in selected AWS regions in 2023, this extension into the Sydney region further aids customers across Australia to innovate with generative AI. This is particularly beneficial to public sector organisations and regulated industries, offering them enhanced options regarding their preferred locations for running and storing generative AI applications.

Organisations from different sectors in Australia are relying on generative AI for an array of use cases, driving productivity gains, facilitating innovative user experiences, and reimagining work. Amazon Bedrock is a fully managed service providing a variety of high-performing models and robust model customisation abilities, all backed by enterprise-grade security and privacy measures. Alongside these, AWS also proffers the requisite tools, resources, and training to foster accountable and secure innovation in generative AI whilst keeping its end-users' low latency needs at its core.

"This year, we will see customers and partners move from rapid generative AI experimentation to scalable, secure, and cost-effective production," states Rianne Van Veldhuizen, Managing Director of Australia and New Zealand at AWS, adding that their planned $13.2 billion investment into nationwide infrastructure by 2027 will offer customers access to their generative AI services, including Amazon Bedrock.

A wide host of AWS customers and partners like Westpac, Lonely Planet, Swann, and Lawpath have been seen welcoming the launch and are also actively innovating using generative AI. They are exploring the potential of the service in application areas ranging from delivering personalised travel itineraries to helping small businesses understand complex legal documents and providing intelligent virtual housemate features in security systems.

AWS is also investing in partner support programs, startup accelerators, and large language model (LLM) development programs aimed at strengthening the build of specialised generative AI applications. For instance, the recently introduced AWS Builder Studio in Melbourne and AWS Generative AI Accelerator are explicitly designed to support local organisations in their pursuit of scaling their projects.

Amazon's AI Ready initiative, complementary to AWS's commitment to providing free cloud computing skills training to 29 million individuals globally by 2025, offers a suite of free AI and generative AI training courses for technical and non-technical roles, thereby enabling anyone to build AI skills.

According to an AWS-commissioned study, Accelerating AI Skills: Preparing the Australia Workforce for Jobs of the Future, 77% of workers in Australia showed an interest in developing AI skills for career advancement. Furthermore, AWS's long-term commitment to Australia has witnessed investments totalling more than AU$9.1 billion since the launch of the AWS Asia Pacific (Sydney) Region in 2012. These contributions, anticipated to accelerate innovation and drive economic growth, are expected to support more than 11,000 jobs annually by 2027.