Amazon has shut down a four-year project aimed at developing a fertility-tracking device, codenamed “Encore.” Part of the company’s experimental Grand Challenge division, the device was intended to track fertility through hormone analysis from saliva samples.
Sources familiar with the project, as well as a CNBC report, confirmed that Amazon’s decision to cancel Encore came after the team faced technical setbacks and high development costs.
Encore was born out of Amazon’s 2020 acquisition of bluDiagnostics, a startup specializing in hormone-based fertility tracking. The device would have measured estradiol and progesterone levels to help users monitor fertility through a smartphone app. Originally slated for release this year, the project’s $1.5 million weekly operational costs and persistent technical issues caused delays, ultimately contributing to its shutdown.
Jassy’s Focus on Reducing Costs
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy’s ongoing cost-cutting measures played a key role in ending Encore. Since taking over in 2022, Jassy has shifted Amazon’s focus away from ambitious but high-cost projects like Grand Challenge, favoring tighter financial controls. Jassy has already slashed more than 27,000 jobs and cut a variety of other experimental initiatives, including an augmented reality headset for meetings and a delivery robot.
In October, about 100 team members were informed of Encore’s termination in a brief videoconference. Employees impacted by the decision will receive severance if they cannot secure alternative roles within Amazon by December 27. The project’s shutdown, signed off by Doug Weibel, head of Grand Challenge, signals a deeper shift in Amazon’s strategic direction under Jassy’s leadership, away from the experimental approach championed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Amazon’s Grand Challenge Now Down to One Project
Established in 2014, Grand Challenge became a hallmark of Bezos’s Amazon, giving engineers room to explore “moonshot” ideas. But Jassy’s focus on financial discipline marks a stark contrast, as experimental projects increasingly find themselves on the chopping block.
Amazon spokesperson Margaret Callahan confirmed the end of Encore, stating that Amazon routinely reassesses projects to focus on “areas where we can make the biggest difference for customers.”
With Encore’s end, only one project reportedly remains active within Grand Challenge, still within the health technology space.
For Amazon’s Grand Challenge, Encore’s cancellation reflects a shift in priorities under Jassy’s leadership, marking an end to what was once a hallmark of the company’s exploratory tech ambitions.
