Amazon sets sights on humanoid robots for last-mile delivery

Something to look forward to: Amazon’s ongoing investment in robotics and AI suggests the company sees automation as a key part of its future. Now, it is experimenting with humanoid robots in its delivery operations, an initiative that could fundamentally reshape how packages reach their final destination and potentially transform the nature of delivery work itself.

According to a report from The Information, the e-commerce giant is developing artificial intelligence software to power these robots and has nearly completed an indoor testing facility – dubbed the “humanoid park” – at its San Francisco offices. The facility is designed to simulate the unpredictable challenges of real-world deliveries, featuring mock doorways, stairs, and even a Rivian electric delivery van for practice runs.

The initiative aims to create a robotic workforce capable of handling the so-called “last mile” of delivery, a task currently managed by hundreds of thousands of human workers worldwide.

For now, Amazon is relying on hardware from third-party manufacturers, including a $16,000 humanoid robot from the Chinese company Unitree, while it focuses on refining the AI that will allow these machines to navigate complex delivery routes. The company’s experience with robots has so far been mostly limited to its warehouses, where purpose-built machines assist with sorting and moving goods.

In 2023, Amazon began a pilot with Agility Robotics’ “Digit,” a humanoid robot designed for logistics tasks, though those trials have remained within the controlled environment of its distribution centers.

The new “humanoid park” marks Amazon’s first concerted effort to train robots for the unpredictable environments found outside its warehouses. According to sources cited by The Information, the goal is for these robots to “hitch a ride” in the back of Amazon’s Rivian electric delivery vans – more than 20,000 of which are already in service across the US – and then spring out to deliver packages directly to customers’ doorsteps.

In the future, these robots could even work alongside human drivers, potentially speeding up deliveries by allowing both to serve different addresses simultaneously.

This push for automation is part of Amazon’s broader strategy to integrate advanced AI throughout its logistics network. The company recently announced the formation of a new “agentic AI” team within its secretive Lab126 research and development division. The team is tasked with building systems that enable robots to understand and respond to natural language commands.

“Rather than employing inflexible, specialized robots, we are developing systems that can perceive, comprehend, and respond to natural language directives, transforming warehouse robots into versatile, multi-skilled aides,” Amazon said in a statement to Silicon Valley. The hope is that these advancements will not only accelerate deliveries but also reduce the physical demands on human workers.

Amazon’s ambitions extend beyond humanoid robots. Its 2020 acquisition of autonomous vehicle startup Zoox signals a long-term vision of fully automating the delivery process from warehouse to doorstep. However, significant technical challenges remain, especially as robots move beyond controlled environments and into real-world neighborhoods, where obstacles such as pets, children, and irregular layouts can present major hurdles.