Inside Amazon’s New Delivery Robots

Key Takeaways

Okay, what is River, the robotics company? So, River, they make these robots that they kind of look like um I don't know, like kind of like they look like little four-legged animals, I guess. Um they're kind of like a long box on top of uh legs with wheels that helps them navigate stairs and um pathways. They're designed for last last mile delivery. So, you know, getting the package from the vehicle it's being delivered in to the door. Um and uh they've previously had partnerships with Just Eat Takeaway, um which is a food delivery company, and Viho, which is also in the uh delivery logistics space, um but now they're being acquired by Amazon. Okay. And and the the idea here is, I mean, they're autonomous, so like do do they get released in fleets and then they pick up the orders and then drop them off? Is it Is that the idea? So, they can't drive cars. Um so >> that. I I mean, they I >> [laughter] >> I understand that. I mean, but they just get dropped off by in fleets and then they just they they go crazy. Yeah, I don't know if it'd be a fleet. It might just be like I guess that's the question. I'm not exactly sure how they'd be deployed. It might be like one in a car, maybe it'd be two in a car, but the idea is like the driver could go drop off a package to one house and then like the the River robot could go to a different house the same time. And then, you know, you could deliver more packages quicker um or something like that. Okay. Where like tell me about Amazon's robotics strategy at large. How does this fit into that? Has it made other acquisitions in the past that this is planning to be added to? Yeah, so Amazon has a long history in robotics. Um it has actually previously invested in the company uh via this thing called like their industrial fund, where they invest in a lot of robotics companies. Uh I think what makes the River kind of acquisition a little bit unique is a lot of the companies they've acquired and invested in have been more on the logistics side of things. Um And so, or sorry, this is like I guess in the warehouses, I should say. So, like, you know, uh helping, you know, move boxes, pack boxes, etc. And a little bit less in the delivery side of the process. Um you know, I guess you they they did invest in Rivian, uh which is an electronic uh electric vehicle company. They make electric trucks. Um then Rivian is you know, developing self-driving capabilities. Uh Amazon also uh is behind Zoox, which is a um uh self-driving robo-taxi. But that's really more for like people taking rides than it is for packages and delivery. So, this is sort of like a delivery-focused uh robotics acquisition. And I think their previous efforts um have more been about robots in the warehouses, robots in the factories, um and also robotics like the AI behind the robots, the software and the models behind the robots. And how does the company ultimately talk about its ambition with robots and autonomous vehicles even because the the delivery personnel that Amazon has, I mean, it's a huge part of their workforce, right? I mean, they uh they are known to have people uh in every corner of the world delivering things. Is Are Are they openly saying we want to replace them to lower costs or what what do they say about that? Yeah, certainly not openly. >> [laughter] >> I think they're very sensitive about this. Um the statement they gave to us about the acquisition was kind of like the robots will work with our delivery drivers. Um and you know, I think I think it's it's always a kind of an interesting question with robotics like can it make things safer for the people? Um but uh and I think I think also at this stage to develop this robotics um and also um to develop the AI behind the robotics can be really expensive. So, you know, in some ways it's it can be a cost center, but do I think they look down the line and say, "Can we employ less people?" I mean, also with their delivery drivers, they don't even directly employ them. It's through this kind of controversial contracting model. So, I think they're probably safe to say they're looking to cut costs. Um But I I would, you know, maybe not people totally out of the loop yet. And last question for you, I mean, what is your assessment of Amazon in the robotics arena? Are they very much ahead of the curve on this? Do you think that they will get to it faster than, for example, you know, I know Tesla has had robot ambitions that are much bigger, but it seems to me like Amazon actually has an application to use the robots in a way that's not like actually developing humanoids, for example. Yeah, you know, I think that Amazon is actually very advanced in robotics. Um they've been at it for like almost a decade, but I think unlike some of these other companies, they're not really trying to sell their robots as like enterprise offerings to other businesses. They want to use them for themselves so far. So, I think it's kind of hard to like compare them in some ways to Tesla, which I think is trying to be sort of like a robotics powerhouse, where it's like I think Amazon kind of sees robotics as more of uh accentuating its existing e-commerce business. And And they use them in other ways like in AWS data centers, for example. Um Right. But yeah, uh remains to be seen. I mean, they definitely are actually quite I think a lot more advanced than people know about. Well, I mean, but to your point, I mean, that I I don't know the exact history of AWS, but it I mean, that that seemed to have been a project that I don't know if they ever thought they were going to sell it externally, but >> [laughter] >> you know, if it conceivably was something that that they did to help their own uh business first and then they figured out that they could turn into a business down the line. So, Yes. >> watch. Yes, totally. Yeah, they I mean, they like making money, so um >> [laughter] >> Okay. All right. Well, thank you very much, Catherine. I appreciate you coming on. That is Catherine Perloff, our Amazon reporter here at The Information.