After more than a decade of automating its warehouses, Amazon has reached a major milestone: it now has one million robots deployed across its global fulfillment network, the company announced Monday. The one-millionth robot was recently delivered to a facility in Japan.
That figure puts Amazon on the verge of another landmark—its warehouse workforce may soon have as many robots as human employees. According to The Wall Street Journal, 75% of Amazon’s global deliveries are now assisted in some way by a robot.
TechCrunch has reached out to Amazon for additional comment.
In tandem with the announcement, Amazon also introduced a new generative AI model named DeepFleet, designed to improve the efficiency of its robotic fleet. The company says the model will increase the speed of warehouse robots by 10%.
Amazon built DeepFleet using Amazon SageMaker, its in-house cloud-based AI development platform, and trained the model using its own warehouse and inventory data.
Amazon emphasized that its one-millionth robot represents more than just a number—the robotic fleet has steadily evolved, featuring more advanced designs and smarter systems. In May, Amazon debuted a new robot called Vulcan, equipped with two arms: one for rearranging inventory, and another with a camera and suction cup to grab items. According to Amazon, Vulcan can even “feel the items it is grabbing”, giving it a sense of touch.
Back in October 2024, the company revealed plans for its “next-generation fulfillment centers” designed to include ten times as many robots as existing facilities—while still retaining human staff. The first of these high-tech centers opened soon after in Shreveport, Louisiana, near the Texas border.
Amazon began building its robotic operations in earnest in 2012, following its acquisition of Kiva Systems.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the fast-paced adoption of generative artificial intelligence will eventually reduce the number of employees needed for certain tasks that can be handled by computers.
“Like with every technical transformation, there will be fewer people doing some of the jobs that the technology actually starts to automate,” Jassy told CNBC’s Jim Cramer in an interview Monday. “But there’s going to be other jobs.”
While AI may replace some roles, Jassy emphasized that Amazon will continue hiring in areas such as AI, robotics, and other growth sectors.
Last month, Jassy acknowledged that the company’s overall headcount is likely to decline over the next few years as Amazon increases its reliance on generative AI and software agents. In a memo to employees, he noted that it will be “hard to know exactly where this nets out over time” but confirmed that the corporate workforce will shrink as the company finds greater efficiencies through AI.
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