Amazon to get rid of delivery executives, get humanoid robots to do their job

Amazon Humanoid robots

Get ready to meet your new delivery executive and no, it won’t be a person. Amazon is gearing up to bring humanoid robots to your doorstep, quite literally, as it prepares to test robots that could one day replace human delivery workers.

According to a report by The Information, Amazon plans to pilot a fleet of humanoid robots designed to handle the last-mile delivery, the final stretch from a warehouse to your front door. These robots are reportedly being trained to jump out of Rivian-made Amazon vans, walk up to your house, and drop off your package. The test will start small, in an indoor park in San Francisco the size of a coffee shop.

While Amazon has long relied on robots in its warehouses, this would mark the first serious step toward automating the delivery process itself. It's a big deal, considering delivery has remained one of the few areas still dominated by human workers.

But this move isn't just about flashy tech. It's also part of Amazon’s way of reducing its dependency on human labor, which has often been at the center of criticism over working conditions. Robots, after all, don’t need lunch breaks, don’t complain, and certainly don’t unionize.

To make all this work, Amazon is also developing AI software that would allow these robots to navigate tricky environments, from apartment foyers to city streets. That’s no easy task. While the robots are being tested in factories now, those controlled environments are far from the unpredictable reality of urban deliveries.

Amazon is partnering with Agility Robotics, whose humanoid robot "Digit" is already being tested inside warehouses. Whether Digit or some other metal messenger eventually lands the job, it’s clear Amazon is investing heavily in automating its logistics chain, even the human part.

So, the next time you hear a knock at the door, don’t be surprised if it’s not a delivery executive, but a robot, carrying your package and possibly scanning your front porch like it’s the final level in a video game. Whether this bold step will actually work in the real world or not is still up in the air. But knowing Amazon, they’re definitely going to try.