In an interview that was 'lost', Jeff Bezos disclosed the reason behind his decision to sell books as the 'best product' on Amazon.

Today, Amazon is valued at $1.5 trillion and is known as an "everything store." However, its beginnings were more focused, with a specific purpose of selling only books. Jeff Bezos had a particular reason for this narrow focus.

In a 1997 video interview at a Special Libraries Association conference, Bezos revealed why he initially only sold books on his website, which was later posted online in 2019 by entrepreneur Brian Roemmele.

Books offered an "incredibly unusual benefit" that set them apart, according to Bezos.

According to Bezos, the book category has the most items with over 3 million active books worldwide in print at any given time, while music comes in second with approximately 200,000 active music CDs.

In 1994, when Bezos launched Amazon, the internet and e-commerce industry were in their infancy. He recognized that it would take time for online shopping to become widespread and thus decided to start with a unique concept that no seller with only physical locations could replicate.

If you have a large number of items, you can create an online store that wouldn't be possible otherwise. This is crucial because the internet is still in its infancy. In essence, if you can accomplish something through a more conventional approach, you should do it that way.

Bezos suggested that the company has the potential to expand further, stating that "we're making progress in numerous areas."

He stated that this is Day 1, marking the beginning of the Kittyhawk stage of electronic commerce.

‘This is the very beginning’ — parallels between the internet and AI

The Amazon founder, who is currently investing $520 million in an AI-powered internet search startup, echoes the way tech leaders today discuss artificial intelligence, just like Bezos did during the internet's early days.

Bezos declared in a 2019 statement that "we are at the dawn of a new era of AI development." Recent advancements have already brought to life technologies that were once only imagined in science fiction, and we have only just begun to explore the full extent of their capabilities.

The future development of AI is uncertain, with a mix of optimism and caution expressed by many tech experts.

In a 2019 speech, Bill Gates compared AI to nuclear energy, labeling both as "promising and dangerous." Meanwhile, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's recent departure and return to his company was reportedly due to boardroom concerns over prioritizing profits over AI safety.

Although Bezos is pro-AI, he recognizes its potential risks. However, he believes it will aid humanity in creating better medicines and tools to develop more technologies, as he stated in a December interview with Lex Fridman.

Despite the uncertainties, Bezos believes that these powerful tools are more likely to help and save us than harm us.

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