Amazon has deployed its 1 millionth robot, a milestone that brings its robot workforce closer than ever to matching its human one.
The company is also rolling out an AI system called DeepFleet, designed to optimize robot movement across fulfillment centers. Built with internal logistics data and AWS tools such as SageMaker, it functions like a traffic controller, improving travel efficiency by 10% and cutting delivery costs.
Amazon employs about 1.5 million people globally, including about 1.2 million people in its warehouses, according to numbers from the company and publicly reported estimates.
The company says the goal of automation is to make warehouse work safer and more efficient. It notes that robots have created new types of jobs in maintenance and technical operations. More than 700,000 employees have been trained for these roles since 2019, according to the company.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon averaged about 670 employees per facility last year, the lowest level in at least 16 years. At the same time, the number of packages shipped per employee each year has climbed from 175 to nearly 3,870 over the past decade, reflecting productivity gains driven by automation.
* {
box-sizing: border-box;
}
.chart-wrapper {
max-width: 630px;
width: 100%;
margin: 20px auto;
padding: 15px;
background: white;
border: 1px solid #e1e5e9;
border-radius: 8px;
}
.chart-container {
position: relative;
height: 400px;
width: 100%;
padding-left: 10px;
}
.source-text {
text-align: center;
color: #666;
font-size: 12px;
margin-top: 10px;
font-style: italic;
}
@media (max-width: 650px) {
.chart-wrapper {
margin: 10px;
padding: 10px;
}
.chart-container {
height: 300px;
padding-left: 15px;
}
.source-text {
font-size: 11px;
}
}
document.addEventListener(‘DOMContentLoaded’, function() {
const ctx = document.getElementById(‘robotChart’);
if (!ctx) return;
new Chart(ctx, {
type: ‘line’,
data: {
labels: [‘2014’, ‘2015’, ‘2016’, ‘2017’, ‘2018’, ‘2019’, ‘2020’, ‘2021’, ‘2022’, ‘2023’, ‘2024’, ‘2025’],
datasets: [{
label: ‘Robot Count’,
data: [15000, 30000, 45000, 75000, 125000, 200000, 287500, 350000, 520000, 750000, 800000, 1000000],
borderColor: ‘#4A90E2’,
backgroundColor: ‘rgba(74, 144, 226, 0.1)’,
borderWidth: 3,
fill: true,
tension: 0.4,
pointBackgroundColor: ‘#FF9900’,
pointBorderColor: ‘#fff’,
pointBorderWidth: 2,
pointRadius: 6,
pointHoverRadius: 8
}]
},
options: {
responsive: true,
maintainAspectRatio: false,
plugins: {
title: {
display: true,
text: ‘Amazon Robot Fleet Growth Over Time’,
font: { size: 16, weight: ‘bold’ },
color: ‘#333’
},
legend: { display: false },
tooltip: {
backgroundColor: ‘rgba(0,0,0,0.8)’,
titleColor: ‘#fff’,
bodyColor: ‘#fff’,
cornerRadius: 6,
displayColors: false,
callbacks: {
label: function(context) {
return ‘Robots: ‘ + context.parsed.y.toLocaleString();
}
}
}
},
scales: {
x: {
title: { display: false },
grid: { color: ‘rgba(0,0,0,0.05)’ },
ticks: { color: ‘#333’, font: { size: 11 } }
},
y: {
title: {
display: true,
text: ‘Robots’,
font: { size: 12, weight: ‘bold’ },
color: ‘#333’
},
grid: { color: ‘rgba(0,0,0,0.05)’ },
ticks: {
color: ‘#333’,
font: { size: 11 },
callback: function(value) {
if (value >= 1000000) return (value / 1000000).toFixed(1) + ‘M’;
if (value >= 1000) return (value / 1000).toFixed(0) + ‘K’;
return value;
}
},
beginAtZero: true
}
}
}
});
});
Amazon’s robotics fleet includes a growing variety of machines, each built for specialized tasks. Among them:
- Hercules: The longtime workhorse of the group, this robot up moves entire shelving units to workers, reducing walking and speeding up item picking.
- Pegasus: A wheeled unit with a conveyor top, used to move packages efficiently across fulfillment centers.
- Proteus: The company’s first fully autonomous mobile robot, capable of safely navigating warehouse floors alongside people.
- Vulcan: Uses force sensors and AI to handle items with a sense of touch, reducing strain from repetitive tasks.
- Digit: A bipedal robot developed by Agility Robotics, being tested for future roles such as trailer unloading.
- Robin: A robotic arm that uses vision and suction to sort and transfer packages between systems.
- Cardinal: A robotic workstation arm that lifts and places heavy packages into delivery carts.
- Sequoia: An AI-powered storage system that retrieves totes and brings them to ergonomic workstations.
- Sparrow: A multi-jointed robotic arm that uses suction cups and computer vision to pick individual items from totes.
- Titan: A larger, stronger version of Hercules used to move bulkier or heavier inventory.
- Xanthus: A modular mobile robot platform adaptable to different warehouse tasks through interchangeable attachments.
PREVIOUSLY: New robots are making Amazon’s warehouses more efficient — can they also make them safer?
Read the full article here
