Amazon has confirmed it plans to cut thousands of jobs, saying it needs to be “organised more leanly” to seize the opportunity provided by artificial intelligence (AI).

The tech giant said on Tuesday it would reduce its global corporate workforce by “approximately 14,000 roles”.

Earlier reporting had suggested it was planning to lay off as many as 30,000 workers.

Beth Galetti, a senior vice president at Amazon, wrote in a note to staff that the move would make the company “even stronger” by shifting resources “to ensure we’re investing in our biggest bets and what matters most to our customers’ current and future needs”.

She acknowledged that some would question the move given the company was performing well.

At the end of July, Amazon reported second quarter results which beat Wall Street expectations on several counts, including a 13% year over year increase in sales to $167.7bn (£125bn).