Quietly, Amazon has turned its fulfillment network into the largest operator of mobile robots in the world.
As of the middle of 2025, the firm had installed more than 1 million robots across more than 300 fulfillment centers worldwide — a figure that illustrates how thoroughly it has incorporated automation into its business.
Amazon One-Million-Robot Milestone
Amazon’s one-millionth robot started working at a fulfillment center in Japan. That represents over a decade of investment in robotics, including its acquisition of Kiva Systems in 2012. These robots are not only making packages move faster, but they are also starting to operate more independently.
Today, the use of robots is the linchpin of Amazon’s logistics strategy. This, in turn, allows for fast shipping, less repetitive manual labor, and lets the company determine how much it scales its operations, how fast, and how consistent.
Robots vs. The Rest of Us: A Changing Balance
Amazon’s robotic armada now numbers more than a million machines, and its two-legged worker bees more closely outnumber human employees than they have publicly suggested.
As of this year, Amazon has about 1.5 million employees worldwide, and about 75% of customer orders are now touched in some way by a robot. This ratio is another reminder that automation is not a sideline hobby, but a central plank of Amazon’s business model.
Robots haven’t taken over yet — but today’s robots have certainly changed warehouse operations. The work of robots is not hierarchical in nature, thus human workers perform and work alongside robots, not as memorizers of specific models, but instead as maintainers, attendants, or fellow workers.
What Kinds of Robots Does Amazon Use?
Amazon’s robotic fleet is comprised of a menagerie of specialized machines, custom-built for specific tasks inside the warehouse. These include:
• Mobile Drive Units: These move whole shelving units to human workers.
• Proteus: The completely autonomous robot that can safely navigate around people.
• Hercules: Picks up and transports stock in heavy pods.
• Robin, Sparrow, Cardinal: Robotic arms to pick up, sort, lift parcels.
• Titan and Pegasus: For heavy and difficult manipulation of inventory.
• Vulcan: The first robot arm with tact.
• Sequoia and Digit: New classes of systems for high volume and advanced automation.
These robots have helped Amazon deal with everything from tiny electronics to heavy boxes in fast-paced, high-volume settings.
The AI Brain: DeepFleet
Behind the scenes, Amazon has an elaborate AI system called DeepFleet that coordinates how robots move through the warehouses. DeepFleet enhances the efficiency of routes, reduces the driver’s travel time, and can be utilized to maximize the flow of orders. This AI spine is a big part of why Amazon’s logistics chain is among the fastest in the world.
What It Could Mean for the Future
There are several big advantages of Amazon’s use of robots:
• Improved fulfillment efficiency and speed.
• Labor savings on repetitive work.
• Robots absorbing the physical burden and making working areas safer.
• New jobs will be created in tech-focused areas such as robot maintenance and AI operations.
Final Thoughts
Amazon’s robot future is here, and it looks nothing like what you might expect. Amazon has now become the leading player in warehouse robotics, with over a million robots working in its warehouses and more being rolled out. The company is establishing a new precedent in how automation and AI will change fulfillment, delivery, and the customer experience at scale.
If the trend continues, it soon won’t be people working alongside robots at Amazon’s fulfillment centers — it will be robots more and more working alongside robots, and not just in Amazon’s fulfillment centers, but everywhere else too.