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Amazon's Robot Workforce Grows By 50 Percent In Just One Year (siliconrepublic.com)

Amazon hires a lot of people. But the expansion of its army of orange-wheeled robots is more than keeping pace. An anonymous reader writes: E-commerce and cloud giant Amazon has revealed that it now has 45,000 robots across 20 fulfilment centres around the world. This is a 50 percent increase on the same time last year, when the company said that it employed 30,000 robots alongside its 306,000 people. Amazon uses the robots to automate the picking and packing process at large warehouses. The robots are 16in tall and weigh 145kg. They can travel at 5mph and can carry packages that weigh 317kg. The robots became part of the company's workforce when Amazon acquired Kiva Systems in 2012 for $775m.

4 of 49 comments (clear)

  1. correction from the article. by nimbius · · Score: 4, Funny

    The robots became part of the company's workforce when Amazon acquired Kiva Systems in 2012 for $775m.

    the specifications for the robots are not correct at all. these machines weigh slightly more than 340 kilograms, can travel at up to 60 miles per hour, do not feel hunger, sorrow, or pain, and are all equipped with a phased plasma rifle typically in the 40 watt range.

    regards,
    Kiva_prod_32423.aws.amazon.com
    A regular human worker employee.

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    Good people go to bed earlier.
  2. Is it just me to worry about the new Amazon? by presidenteloco · · Score: 3, Funny

    Robots that make things connected to drones that deliver things, all run by a computer algorithm in the cloud that no single human understands.

    What could possibly go wrong?

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    Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
    1. Re:Is it just me to worry about the new Amazon? by Locke2005 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Just for grins and giggles, they should name the drone delivery system "Skynet"!

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      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  3. Don't worry, Trump will deport them by fodder69 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Send those suckers back to China where they were probably made and give those jobs back to American robots.