In a move that might freak out your dog and make delivery drivers side-eye their vans, Amazon is reportedly developing AI-powered humanoid robots that could soon be hopping out of delivery vans and dropping packages on your porch like it’s no big deal. Yes, this is real life. Welcome to what insiders are calling Amazon’s very own “humanoid park” — no, not a sci-fi series on Netflix (yet).
According to The Information (and no, Amazon hasn’t confirmed it — but they’re also not denying it ): Amazon is putting the finishing touches on a café-sized indoor obstacle course at its San Francisco office. That’s where these robotic couriers will be trained before they’re unleashed on the actual world. Picture robots doing agility drills. One of Amazon’s 20,000+ electric Rivian vans is already stationed at the training site. Why? So the bots can practice getting in and out like they’re carpooling to work. The robots themselves? Amazon’s developing the software in-house, but plans to mix and match hardware, including models like Unitree’s $16,000 bipedal bot from China. They’re also using warehouse-tested robots like Agility Robotics’ “Digit,” which was originally designed with delivery in mind.

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This is all part of Amazon’s grand plan to automate everything. Since buying self-driving car company Zoox in 2020, they’ve been quietly piecing together a future where no human touches your package from the moment it leaves the warehouse to the moment it lands on your doormat. Of course, this has major implications. If successful, this robot relay race could put hundreds of thousands of delivery jobs at risk. But hey, maybe we’ll all have robot coworkers soon… or at least someone new for your Ring camera to freak out about. So next time you hear a knock and see a humanoid robot doing the moonwalk off your porch, don’t worry, it’s just your latest Amazon Prime delivery.
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