Overview
- Reporting based on internal materials suggests Amazon is exploring automation that could replace roughly 500,000 to 600,000 roles over the next decade and avoid about 160,000 U.S. hires by 2027.
- Amazon counters that the leaked documents do not represent companywide policy, stating they come from a single operational team and emphasizing active hiring across logistics sites.
- The internal planning described a shift in messaging to soften public perception, favoring terms like “advanced technology” and “cobot” over “automation” and “robot.”
- Coverage cites projections tied to the plan, including about $12 billion in cost savings by 2027 and an ambition to double productivity by 2033, which have not been presented as formal corporate targets.
- Amazon showcased new systems including the Blue Jay robotic sorter now in testing in South Carolina and an agentic AI tool, Project Eluna, alongside the claim that more than one million robots already operate in its warehouses.