E-commerce conglomerate Amazon is celebrating the deployment of its one-millionth robot as the company continues to advance its automation efforts.
On Monday, Amazon published a news release stating that the robot was delivered to a fulfillment center in Japan as part of the company’s global network of over 300 facilities.
The one million robot milestone shows a growing trend in robotics and AI use by the company for fully autonomous work and assistance with tasks. Amazon stated that it is introducing a new generative AI foundation model called “DeepFleet” designed to boost the efficiency of its robotics fleet by 10%.
Labor impact
Increasing investments by the company in automation and AI has robots on track to outnumber Amazon’s total number of human employees at the company. According to Amazon’s most recent Q1 2025 earnings report, the company currently employs 1.56 million people – a three percent increase year-over-year from Q1 2024.
According to Amazon’s news release, the company has “upskilled” a little under half its employees with training focusing on working with advanced technologies.
“These robots work alongside our employees, handling heavy lifting and repetitive tasks while creating new opportunities for our front-line operators to develop technical skills,” stated Scott Dresser, vice president at Amazon Robotics, in the release. “I’m particularly proud that since 2019, we’ve helped upskill more than 700,000 employees through various training initiatives, many focused on working with advanced technologies.”
Dresser added that the company’s 12th-generation fulfillment center in Shreveport, Louisiana, requires 30% more employees in reliability, maintenance and engineering roles for upkeep of its advanced robotics.
Tye Brady, chief technologist for Amazon Robotics, told the Wall Street Journal in an interview that the new robots are not meant to displace worker jobs, but make them easier.
Another Amazon Robotics scientist told WSJ that the demand for robot technicians has created “completely new jobs” for warehouse workers to be trained for robotics apprenticeships.
Amazon’s growing robotics program, particularly in the warehouse space, appears to be in line with recent industry trends. In May, German logistics giant DHL Group announced a partnership with Boston Dynamics to purchase over 1,000 more package-handling robots.
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