6 days ago
Amazon Now Has Over One Million AI Robots Powering Global Warehouses
Amid the competitive e-commerce space, Amazon has carved out a reputation for being the king of (fast) deliveries, and robots will continue to be a big part of it. During the Delivering the Future event held in Tokyo, the industry giant announced the deployment of its one millionth robot to a fulfilment centre in Japan.
The milestone update was followed up by the introduction of a new generative artificial intelligence (AI) foundation model called DeepFleet, designed to make the robots smarter and more efficient. Similar to an 'intelligent traffic management system for a city filled with cars moving through congested streets,' it coordinates their movements to optimise their navigation around Amazon's fulfilment centres, large warehouses where customer orders are received, stored, packed, and shipped, leading to less congestion and faster processing of orders.
The new technology is built using the company's data sets of inventory movement within its sites and leverages Amazon Web Services (AWS) developer tools, including SageMaker, with the AI trained to learn and improve over time. DeepFleet is also expected to reduce robot travel time by 10 percent, allowing for quicker delivery times, lower operational costs, and reduced energy usage.
Amazon's robotics journey started in 2012 with a single type of robot that could move inventory shelves across warehouse floors. The fleet has now grown to include the Hercules robots, capable of lifting and moving up to 1,250 pounds (566kg) of inventory; their Pegasus counterparts, which use precision conveyor belts to handle individual packages; and Proteus, the brand's first fully autonomous mobile robot designed to safely navigate around employees in open and unrestricted site areas while moving heavy carts filled with customer orders.
As for fulfilment centres, there are currently more than 300 of them across the globe. Of the list, only a handful offer free in-person tours to the public: the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia, France, Germany, and Italy, with Mexico, Brazil, Spain, and Belgium joining the programme. India and Japan will be the first in the Asia-Pacific region to host them – the former in Q4 of 2025, and the latter, at an unspecified date in the same year.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth's theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia's greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
