Amazon plots a new 'Tetromino' warehouse where robots tackle work that's notoriously hard to automate

An Amazon worker loads boxes into a delivery vehicle. Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images Amazon's Tetromino project aims to fully automate delivery stations. Amazon estimated more than $530 million in investment in Tetromino by 2029. Amazon says warehouse automation is intended to improve safety and efficiency for workers. Amazon is developing a new generation of highly automated warehouses that use AI and robotics to process packages at the final stop before delivery. The initiative, internally called Project Tetromino, is intended to build "fully automated" delivery stations, according to an internal planning document from last month that Business Insider reviewed. Delivery stations are the final facility in the shipping process, receiving packaged items from fulfillment centers before sorting and staging them for drivers to deliver to customers. According to the document, Amazon planned to invest $103 million in an initial Tetromino pilot in 2028, followed by five sites in 2029 and 10 more in 2030. Each 2029 site could cost about $85 million, bringing the total Tetromino investment to more than $530 million by 2029, the document said. It also said Tetromino could process packages at roughly 2.5 times the rate of its existing delivery station design. An Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider that this is an "early-stage concept" and the specific financial figures and road map in the document are "inaccurate and don't reflect our current plans." "We're always exploring and testing new technologies across our operations to improve safety and the delivery experience for customers," the spokesperson said. "Like any early-stage concept, this is one of many initiatives we regularly evaluate, and plans evolve significantly as we learn." Tetromino offers a glimpse of how Amazon is trying to automate one of the most stubbornly manual parts of its logistics network. Industry analysts say tasks such as organizing and loading packages into vehicles at delivery stations remain difficult and expensive to automate. The project comes as Amazon accelerates a broader warehouse automation push. On its latest earnings call in July, the company said it expects to more than double its fleet of robotic arms in 2026. Business Insider previously reported that Amazon is also deploying software that automatically recommends where warehouse workers should be assigned as workloads change. Amazon's Tetris-like challenge One of Tetromino's key technologies could come from Boxbot, an AI and robotics supply chain startup, according to the planning document. Boxbot's system moves packages from conveyors onto trays for storage, then uses AI to retrieve and sequence them for delivery. Boxbot's website says the system can make the vehicle-loading process up to 10 times faster. Boxbot did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. The Tetromino name itself may be a nod to the game Tetris, reflecting the puzzle-like challenge of efficiently organizing packages for delivery vehicles. Amazon isn't alone in trying to automate these tasks. FedEx is expanding its use of AI-powered Dexterity robots that autonomously load packages into trailers, while UPS and DHL use robots for unloading. The Amazon spokesperson also pointed to delivery station pilots announced last year as part of a €700 million investment in European facilities, including machines that unload, sort, and scan packages. The push toward more automated facilities raises questions about what Amazon's warehouses will ultimately need humans to do. Amazon robotics chief Tye Brady previously told Business Insider that robots are intended to make frontline work safer and more efficient, not replace employees. Nevertheless, Amazon has internally projected that some warehouse robots will "flatten" its hiring curve over the next decade, Business Insider previously reported. The Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider the company's delivery-station initiatives are "designed to complement and empower our workforce and employees remain central to how we operate." Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at ekim@businessinsider.com or Signal, Telegram, or WhatsApp at 650-942-3061. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely. Read the original article on Business Insider

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