Amazon scraps autonomous home-delivery robot project amid slowing sales growth

About 400 people were working on the project globally and only a skeleton crew will now remain

Amazon's electric delivery vans in Chicago, Illinois. Vans will remain the main form of transport for Amazon deliveries as the company abandons the autonomous delivery robots project. Jamie Davis / BloombergShow less

Amazon is shutting down tests of its home delivery robot, the latest sign that the e-commerce company is starting to wind down experimental projects amid slowing sales growth.

Work on Scout, an autonomous machine launched about three years ago, has already been halted, according to a source.

Amazon spokeswoman Alisa Carroll said the Scout team was being disbanded and would be offered new jobs in the organisation.

About 400 people were working on the project globally, according to the sources. A skeleton crew will continue to consider the idea of an autonomous robot, but the current iteration isn’t working.

“During our Scout limited field test, we worked to create a unique delivery experience, but learnt through feedback that there were aspects of the programme that weren’t meeting customers’ needs,” Ms Carroll said. “As a result, we are ending our field tests and reorienting the programme. We are working with employees during this transition, matching them to open roles that best fit their experience and skills.”

The Seattle-based company began testing the cooler-sized bots on suburban sidewalks outside Seattle in 2019, before expanding the trials to Southern California, Georgia and Tennessee. The slow-moving devices, accompanied by human minders during tests, were designed to stop at a front door and pop open their lids so a customer could pick up a package. Amazon said the battery-powered robots were part of an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in its delivery operations.

Only a few month ago, Amazon was still holding meet-and-greets in communities where it was testing the devices. Sean Scott, the vice president who oversaw the robot’s development, left the company last year, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Under chief executive Andy Jassy, Amazon is adjusting to slowing growth in its core retail group, delaying some investments and pulling the plug on others. The company has a reputation for backing radical experiments that can take years to come to fruition, a roster that includes cashierless stores, flying delivery drones and a satellite constellation that promises to beam internet access around the world.

Amazon is discontinuing Amazon Glow, a kids-focused video calling device. The company has also frozen hiring for its corporate retail teams and is winding down Amazon Care, its start-up telehealth service.

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Tesla's Optimus robot - in pictures

Tesla's AI Day 2022 livestream introduced the humanoid robot Optimus as it walks on stage in Palo Alto, California. All photos: AFP

Optimus waves to guests at Tesla's AI Day in Calfornia.

Humanoid robot Optimus was on stage as Tesla set out its plans for an AI future.

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk explains how the Optimus humanoid robot project will evolve.

The event took place in Tesla's office in Palo Alto, California.

“There's still a lot of work to be done to refine Optimus and prove it,” Mr Musk told guests at the event.

Elon Musk said Optimus would be an 'extremely capable robot' that Tesla would aim to produce in the millions and perhaps cost less than $20,000 per unit.