Amazon hits robot milestone as fleet nears outnumbering humans

Amazon has deployed its one millionth robot to its workforce, marking the highest number of robots the company has ever had and almost equalling the number of human workers at its facilities.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Amazon currently employs about 1.56 million people overall, with the majority of those working in warehouses, but robots are now supplanting roles and leading to less hiring across the group. 

It found that the average number of employees Amazon had per facility last year, around 670, was the lowest recorded in the past 16 years. The analysis by the paper compared the company’s reported workforce with estimates of its facility count.

Despite this, Amazon confirmed that over 700,000 employees have now been upskilled through training programs to “prepare its workforce for the future” with the increasing use of robots and AI.

It also claimed that at its next-generation fulfilment centre in Louisiana, advanced robotics require 30% more employees in reliability, maintenance, and engineering roles.

The news comes as Amazon is introducing a new generative AI foundation model designed to make its “entire fleet of robots smarter and more efficient”. 

The technology, named DeepFleet, will coordinate the movement of robots across its fulfilment network, and according to the group will improve the travel time of its robotic fleet by 10%, “enabling us to deliver packages to customers faster and at lower costs”.

The technology has been built by using the company’s data sets of inventory movement within its sites and leveraging AWS tools, including Amazon SageMaker.

Amazon said it will allow it to store more products closer to customers, leading to “faster delivery and lower costs”. 

It is also built on AI that “learns and improves over time”, and will “continue to find new ways to optimise how our robots work together”.

Scott Dresser, VP of Amazon Robotics, said: “Think of DeepFleet as an intelligent traffic management system for a city filled with cars moving through congested streets. 

“Just as a smart traffic system could reduce wait times and create better routes for drivers, DeepFleet coordinates our robots’ movements to optimise how they navigate our fulfilment centres. This means less congestion, more efficient paths, and faster processing of customer orders.”

He added: “The combination of our million-robot milestone and DeepFleet points to an exciting future where robotics and AI work together to reimagine what’s possible in fulfilment and delivery. 

“Twelve years ago, we worked backwards from a simple problem: how to help employees access inventory more efficiently. Today, we’re applying the latest AI technology to make our entire robot fleet smarter, ultimately delivering better value to our customers through faster service and lower costs.”