AWS Unveils Enhanced Nova AI Models and Nova Forge Service for Custom AI Development
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has introduced significant advancements in its artificial intelligence (AI) offerings with the launch of Nova 2, an upgraded suite of AI models, and Nova Forge, a new service designed to empower enterprises in developing customized AI solutions. These announcements were made during AWS CEO Matt Garman’s keynote at the AWS re:Invent conference on December 2, 2025.
Evolution of the Nova AI Model Family
The Nova AI model family, first introduced at AWS re:Invent in 2024, initially comprised four text-generating models and one image-generating model. Over the past year, Nova has gained substantial traction, being adopted by tens of thousands of customers, including industry leaders like Infosys, Blue Origin, and Robinhood, as well as innovative startups such as NinjaTech AI. Building on this momentum, AWS has now unveiled Nova 2, featuring four new models tailored to diverse AI applications:
1. Nova 2 Lite: A cost-effective reasoning model capable of processing text, images, and videos to generate text suitable for everyday tasks.
2. Nova 2 Pro: An advanced reasoning agent designed to handle complex tasks, including coding, by processing text, images, videos, and speech.
3. Nova 2 Sonic: A speech-to-speech model optimized for conversational AI applications, enabling more natural and dynamic interactions.
4. Nova 2 Omni: A multimodal reasoning and generation model that can process inputs across images, text, video, and speech, producing both text and images as outputs.
Introduction of Nova Forge
In addition to the enhanced models, AWS introduced Nova Forge, a service that allows AWS cloud customers to build their own customized versions of Nova models, referred to as Novellas. Priced at $100,000 per year, Nova Forge provides access to pre-trained, mid-trained, or post-trained models, which enterprises can further train using their proprietary data. This approach addresses challenges associated with integrating proprietary data into pre-existing AI models, ensuring that the core reasoning capabilities of the models are preserved.
Matt Garman highlighted the importance of this service, noting that extensive customization and data integration can sometimes lead to models forgetting previously learned information. By offering a structured framework for customization, Nova Forge aims to mitigate such issues, enabling enterprises to develop AI solutions that are both powerful and tailored to their specific needs.
Broader Implications and Industry Adoption
The introduction of Nova 2 and Nova Forge signifies AWS’s commitment to advancing AI capabilities and providing customers with greater control over their AI deployments. Early adopters of Nova Forge include prominent companies such as Reddit, Sony, and Booking.com, indicating a strong interest in customized AI solutions across various industries.
These developments also reflect a broader trend in the AI industry, where cloud providers are increasingly offering tools and services that enable enterprises to build and customize AI models. By providing both advanced pre-built models and the means to tailor them, AWS is positioning itself as a versatile and customer-centric player in the competitive AI landscape.
Conclusion
AWS’s launch of Nova 2 and Nova Forge represents a significant step forward in making AI more accessible and customizable for enterprises. By offering a range of models suited to different tasks and a service that facilitates the creation of bespoke AI solutions, AWS is empowering businesses to harness the full potential of artificial intelligence in a way that aligns with their unique requirements.
