Amazon upgrades its Proteus robot for better functionality and announces a €10 billion investment to expand its European logistics network.
Amazon has announced a significant upgrade to its warehouse robot, Proteus, alongside a major investment plan exceeding €10 billion aimed at expanding its logistics network in Europe. This initiative will also see the creation of 25,000 new jobs.
The announcement was made during the Delivering the Future event in London. The next-generation Proteus robot is designed to work across the entire warehouse infrastructure, performing tasks such as transporting containers, moving items between workstations, and assisting staff at fulfillment and delivery sites.
A notable advancement in Proteus is its capability to comprehend natural language. Employees can now issue commands in everyday speech, simplifying interactions with the robot. According to Scott Dresser, Amazon Robotics Vice President, workers just need to articulate their needs, and the system will autonomously manage task prioritization and routing.
Proteus is engineered for heavy-duty operations, capable of moving carts weighing up to 400 kg. The earlier version has been implemented in 25 fulfillment centers across the U.S. The new model is currently undergoing testing in Amazon's labs, with a rollout planned for Europe in early 2027.
In conjunction with Proteus, Amazon is also expanding its robotic fleet, including:
- STARK, a system designed for container handling, which will be deployed at 15 European sites by 2027 after a successful pilot in Barcelona.
- Vulcan, a robot with tactile sensitivity, is already operational in Hamburg for complex item picking tasks, having been developed from a facility in Spokane.
Armin Kossmann, Amazon's Vice President of Operations in Europe, emphasized that these advancements signify a "qualitative leap" in enhancing employee support and customer service.
In a related note, robots from Figure AI recently faced off against a human in a 10-hour package sorting competition but were unable to win.
