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.
Source: Amazon reports; GeekWire reporting. GeekWire Chart by Claude.AI.
Amazon’s robotics fleet includes a growing variety of machines, each built for specialized tasks. Among them:
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Source: Geek Wire
