It might seem like a joke at first, but it could be a reality in the coming months, as Amazon is reportedly testing humanoid robots to deliver packages in the United States.
Since its inception, Amazon has been known for offering ever-faster deliveries, having developed services like Amazon Prime since 2016. But if you thought the company had already reached the limit of optimizations it could make in its deliveries, you wouldn't have counted on this new announcement...
A new fleet of humanoid delivery drivers
According to an article in the newspaper The Information, Amazon has reportedly partnered with Rivan, a well-known car manufacturer in the American continent for its vans, to develop a fleet of new types of delivery drivers...
Because while Amazon is already working with this company for its deliveries, the company plans to use robots to deliver packages directly to the online store's customers. While Amazon has just acquired Zoox, a company that specializes in autonomous vehicles, it could control the delivery chain from start to finish.
According to the information given in the article, the project is already well advanced, with a training center located in San Francisco to train the robots. From sidewalks to stairs to front doors, everything is being done to prepare robots to deliver packages in the very near future.
Thousands of employees threatened
To deliver Amazon customers' packages as efficiently as possible, the company has reportedly decided to test two robots, including a Chinese model developed by Unitree, to identify customer addresses, overcome obstacles outside, and drop off packages while taking precautions.
In addition to this Chinese robot, Amazon is reportedly using the Digit model from Agility Robotics. Already used by the company in its warehouses, this would allow Amazon to replace several thousand employees.
An Amazon representative reportedly indicated that these robots could even understand voice, particularly in the context of direct interactions with customers during deliveries.
AI increasingly present at Amazon
While Amazon remains focused on its core business, by developing tools around online sales, the company is not remaining inactive in the field of artificial intelligence.
As part of this project, Amazon intends to use Agentic AI, its in-house AI, to make the robots even more productive within the brand's warehouses. But while the first packages should be delivered this fall, there is no indication yet of when Amazon plans to deploy this new delivery method in Europe...
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