Amazon’s newest parcel carriers won’t be interested in any small talk when they drop off your package. In fact, they won’t even be capable of it.
Driving the news: Amazon is reportedly working on software for humanoid robots to deliver parcels, per the Information. The bots will be trained at a large “humanoid park,” complete with an obstacle course, which is in the process of being built.
- The bots will then be taken into the real world for test deliveries. Once they’re ready for prime time, Amazon drivers will drive them around in Rivian electric vans.
Big picture: Amazon has heavily invested in factory bots and now has more robo-workers than Westworld. Its over 750,000 robots sort and handle goods at its warehouses, helping out with 75% of all global orders. However, its humanoid factory robot is still being tested.
Why it matters: Humanoid robots have been notoriously fickle and hard to perfect, but Amazon has more experience with them than just about any other company. A test of this scale is a sign that it believes humanoid bots will be a real efficiency driver rather shortly.
What’s next: While Amazon is adamant robots are here to aid workers, not replace them, a fully automated delivery future where factory robots whip up all the parcels and humanoid robots ride around in Zoox self-driving vans to deliver them doesn’t sound improbable.—QH