Report: Amazon Is Training Humanoid Delivery Robots

Optimus Prime delivery? Amazon is reportedly planning to use humanoid robots to carry out deliveries in its fleet of Rivian electric vans. Citing a source involved in the project, the Information, via the Guardian and the Verge, reports that the company is building a "humanoid park" obstacle course in San Francisco to test the technology. The goal, the source says, is to have the robots "hitch a ride" in the delivery vans and "spring out" to deliver packages. Amazon reportedly plans to use robots built by other companies, including China's Unitree, but it's developing its own AI software for them.

Subramanian Ramamoorthy, chair of robot learning at the University of Edinburgh, tells the Guardian that Amazon has a respected robotics team, but that things could become tricky outside of a controlled environment. "If Amazon restricts the scope, which means using relatively clear driveways and standard layouts of doors and surroundings, then the task would be quite a bit simpler," he says. "As the environments become more complex and variable, and others enter the picture—such as pets and small children—the problems become harder." (More Amazon stories.)