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Amazon has announced the deployment of its one millionth robot, now operating across a global network of more than 300 facilities. The milestone underscores the company’s accelerating move toward industrial automation, which executives say is reshaping how goods move through warehouses.
The company also introduced new AI technology called DeepFleet that is designed to improve how robots travel within fulfillment centers and boost routing efficiency by 10%.
Scott Dresser, vice president of Amazon Robotics, wrote in the company’s announcement that “rather than pursuing technology for its own sake, we’re focused on solving real problems.”
Twelve years of robotics culminate in a one-million robot milestone
The one-million robot mark caps a robotics effort that began in 2012 with a basic shelf-moving machine. Over 23 years, Amazon’s system has expanded into a complex, multi-role fleet worldwide — most recently in Japan, where the milestone robot was delivered.
The current lineup includes Hercules, which can lift loads up to 1,250 pounds, and Pegasus, which relies on built-in conveyors to handle packages. Proteus, Amazon’s first fully autonomous mobile robot, navigates warehouse floors independently, operating safely alongside employees.
These machines now take on heavy lifting and repetitive tasks in hundreds of facilities worldwide. Amazon said the approach is intended to improve speed, accuracy, and safety as it continues to scale.
DeepFleet: Amazon’s new AI model
As part of the robotics expansion, the company introduced DeepFleet, an AI system that helps coordinate robot movement and reduce congestion on warehouse floors. Dresser said DeepFleet is intended to achieve faster deliveries, lower costs, and reduced energy use, and not technology for its own sake.
As robots scale up, human headcount scales down
Dresser emphasized that the machines are meant to work alongside employees and cited a 30% rise in maintenance and engineering roles at a site in Shreveport, Louisiana.
However, Amazon’s broader strategy points toward a leaner workforce. CEO Andy Jassy said last month that Amazon will need fewer people for many warehouse jobs. In a CNBC interview, he confirmed that over time, robots are expected to take over delivery and transportation.
According to The Wall Street Journal, robotics now assists with about 75% of Amazon’s global deliveries. The number of machines is nearing the count of human workers, and the average number of employees per site has dropped to a 16-year low, even as roles like robot technicians and maintenance staff emerge.
With machines learning, jobs are disappearing
The pace of automation is leaving fewer safe havens for human workers. As robots and AI systems take on more warehouse and logistics tasks, the pool of AI-proof jobs is shrinking at an alarming rate.
This wave isn’t stopping at Amazon. Layoffs are accelerating in the tech and retail sectors as companies double down on artificial intelligence.
The way things are going, the new face of unemployment may just be a robot’s reflection.
Read eWeek’s coverage of how Amazon is quietly testing humanoid delivery robots that could soon replace traditional warehouse and last-mile roles.