Amazon’s 1-Millionth Robot Worker, and More Are on the Way
Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer. In 2024, it reported global revenues of $638 billion. It is also America’s second largest private employer, behind only Walmart.
Amazon employs a global workforce of about 1.56 million employees. But Amazon doesn’t just use a lot of human labor in its global dominance of the retail industry. It also uses a lot of robots. Last week, Amazon announced it had added its one-millionth robot worker. Its number of robot workers now nearly equates the roughly one million human employees that work within Amazon’s vast network of warehouses, sorting, fulfillment and distribution centers. And a lot more robots are on the way.
But make no mistake, these are not your basic robots. For decades, basic robotics have been used on many factory and industrial floors, where a robotic “arm” performed rudimentary or repetitive tasks. In 1964, the first industrial robot was installed at a General Motors auto plant in Ewing Township, New Jersey. Its function was to extract hot metal parts from a die-casting machine and then stack them.
Today, robotics is a rapidly growing industry. According to consulting firm Precedence Research, global spending on advanced robotics totaled $44.74 billion in 2024. By 2034, total spending is projected to reach $280 billion.
Here in the U.S., American companies spent $12.84 billion on advanced robotics last year – roughly 29% of the world’s total robotic spending. U.S. spending is expected to reach $81.92 billion in 2034. This equates to a compound annual growth rate of 20.36% over each of the next 10 years.
But this is not your grandfather’s robotics. Instead, Amazon’s robots are infused and super-charged with the latest and most complex artificial intelligence (AI). In 2025, Amazon said it would increase its spending on capital expenditures to $100 billion, with much of that targeted for investment in AI technology and infrastructure. This is up 20% from last year. Amazon joins companies such as Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta, Tesla and Apple, among others, who are also heavily investing in AI.
Amazon first started using robots in its facilities in 2012. Today, it uses some of the most advanced robots in the world. Amazon recently unveiled one of its latest robot developments – call Vulcan – that uses a “hand” with AI-powered sensors to “feel” any item it touches. This allows Vulcan to more efficiently lift, pull and sort a wider variety of goods within its facilities.
Amazon has also developed robots that use AI-powered vision to “see” to better understand and interact with their environment. Amazon is currently developing robots that understand human language and reason to act autonomously to verbal commands and complex tasks.
The future of robotics is bordering on what we once considered science fiction. The next generation currently in development is AI-powered humanoid robots. These are robots in the shape of human bodies designed to mimic human movement. American companies Tesla, Apptronik, Boston Dynamics and Unitree are all currently working to bring their own humanoid robots to market.
The rapid advancement of robotics does come with a cost – human displacement. Robots don’t take lunch breaks, vacations, sick days or get injured. They don’t ask for pay raises or potentially go on strike. Fueled by AI and robotics, the world is changing at an ever-rapid pace. However, it’s understandable how many workers feel they may be left behind.
Mark M. Grywacheski, Investment Advisor
Quad Cities Investment Group is a Registered Investment Adviser.
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