Amazon has used drones to deliver packages, but according to an internal report cited by The Information, the retailer is planning to test out more human-like autonomous delivery methods. Namely, robots that would walk right up to your door to deliver items.
The company is reportedly finishing work on a San Francisco-based obstacle park to work on the technology. It's unclear how soon the technology might be developed or used for real-world deliveries.
Amazon has been touting its work in robotics for the home and for warehouse work, but this is the first time the company has made an explicit push into using human-like robotics for package delivery, which could replace human workers. The robots would use some of the same AI technology that the company is rolling across other areas of its business.
Along with delivery robots, Amazon is working on humanoid robots that would work in its warehouses, according to Reuters, reporting on an event at Amazon's Lab126 research facility.
In a post on its X account, Amazon pointed to a story about how it's using agentic AI across several fronts: "We're developing foundation models that will allow fulfillment center robots to understand and act on natural language commands. Imagine saying 'Pick up that yellow tote' and having a robot do it instantly. The future of robotics is here, and it speaks your language."
The company has hundreds of robotics-related job listings posted in the US, Canada, Germany and Luxembourg.Â
 A representative for Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
How will Amazon use its new robot army?
Once Amazon's human-like delivery robots are ready, it's likely the company could use a combination of traditional trucks-and-people delivery, drones for flying over traffic and for remote areas, and the robots for some types of deliveries.
"Humanoid robots can carry heavier loads and work in human environments -- warehouses, elevators, corridors -- and perform monotonous, physically demanding tasks that fewer and fewer people are willing to do," said Mantas Leknius, CEO of VMG Technics, a Lithuanian company that works in robotics and automation.
Leknius says that in addition to the ways that robots may be able to do work that humans can't, and for longer periods of time, using them "could significantly reduce labor costs, especially if the robots become sufficiently reliable, versatile and economically efficient." However, he said, costs are high to get them integrated and maintained in the workforce and they require AI powerful enough to ensure they're safe around humans.
Amazon, Leknius says, invests "enormous" amounts of money on next-gen technology, especially logistics, and has been partnering with robotics companies. The company, he says, could benefit from the work that others including Tesla, Apptronik and Boston Dynamics, are doing in that field.
"While Amazon does not currently create its own humanoid robots, it actively uses solutions developed by other companies, which could accelerate the technology's adoption across other industries as well," he said.