Sorry Humans, Amazon Wants AI-Controlled Robots To Deliver Packages

The quiet hum of Amazon's electric Rivian delivery vans may soon be accompanied by the mechanical whir of bipedal robot delivery, uh, folk. New reports indicate that the e-commerce titan is on the verge of trialing humanoid robots for last-mile package delivery, a move that could radically reshape the logistics landscape and bring sci-fi closer to reality.

Amazon is reportedly putting the finishing touches on a "humanoid park," an indoor obstacle course in one of its San Francisco offices. This training ground, roughly the size of a coffee shop, is designed to prepare these advanced automatons for the unpredictable challenges of residential delivery. Crucially, a full-sized Rivian electric van is integrated into the park, allowing the robots to practice the seamless transition from vehicle to doorstep, mimicking real-world delivery scenarios.

While Amazon is developing the AI software that will serve as the brains of these mechanical couriers, the physical ...