AWS releases Strands Decider 2B for AI workflow choices
By Automate Basics, written with AI from TechCrunch's original
Amazon Web Services has released Strands Decider 2B, an open source model that selects from predefined options and reports how confident it is. It is aimed at teams building AI workflows that need a choice, rather than a written response, at a particular step.
What changed
Amazon Web Services has released Strands Decider 2B, an open source model for choosing between options supplied in advance. TechCrunch reports that the model returns a choice and a confidence measure instead of generating a written answer. It is available now and small enough to run locally.
According to TechCrunch, AWS developed the model through Strands Labs after engineer Marc Brooker built an initial version inspired by another decision model. Brooker described a use for it in AI workflows: deciding what should happen next when the available actions are already known. The distinction matters at work because a workflow does not always need an AI system to draft text. Sometimes it only needs to route a task.
Who can use Strands Decider 2B?
Strands Decider 2B is available as an open source model, according to TechCrunch. The report does not identify a subscription plan, a hosted service or a price. AWS describes it as a potentially lower-cost option for some decisions than using a full language model, but that is not a quoted price or a guarantee of savings.
The immediate audience is people who build or maintain AI-driven workflows. A team that uses such a workflow at work could benefit if its builder uses the model for a step with a fixed set of possible actions. For someone who only uses an automation tool through its usual interface, the report does not describe a ready-made feature to turn on.
How do I try it in a work workflow?
Strands Decider 2B is worth considering for a workflow step that must choose among known next actions, rather than write a message or analyse an open-ended request. If someone maintains your team's AI automation, ask them whether a repetitive routing decision fits that pattern. TechCrunch does not provide a setup procedure or describe an interface for nontechnical users.
Start with a task whose correct destination can be checked by a person. Compare the model's choices with those expected by the team, and pay attention to cases where its reported confidence is high but its choice is wrong. A confidence measure may help a workflow decide when to seek review, but the report does not establish how reliably the model would handle your team's particular work.
Frequently asked questions
What does Strands Decider 2B do?
Strands Decider 2B chooses among options defined ahead of time and provides a measure of confidence in its choice. TechCrunch reports that AWS designed it for decisions within AI workflows, where selecting the next action may be more useful than asking a language model to generate text.
Is Strands Decider 2B free to use?
TechCrunch says AWS has released Strands Decider 2B as an open source model that is available now and can run locally. The report does not give a price for running it or describe a paid service, so the cost of using it in a particular workflow is unclear.
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Written with AI from TechCrunch's original and published after automatic checks: every figure here appears in the original, and no sentence is copied from it. The picture is AI-generated. The original is the authority.
Source: Amazon releases its own Jev clone as decision models flood the web, TechCrunch, 1 Oct 2026.