Amazon has “acqui-hired” robotics startup Covariant for an undisclosed amount, setting the stage for the retail giant to turn its network of fulfillment warehouses into robot-employment epicenters.
The Big Picture: Ecommerce requires a huge headcount to keep the shipping machine running… but companies that figure out how to make actual machines the backbone of the physical labor could order up a lot of cost-savings.
Between the Lines: Amazon’s Covariant acquisition-in-everything-but-name-only could program a new era for the company.
Covariant has been focused on leveraging AI to train robots how to pick up and handle various physical objects — one of the few skills that has evaded robotics makers because of how many factors are used in grip.
Covariant’s three founders and several research scientists will now become Amazon employees, and Amazon will license the startup’s models and data… for an undisclosed amount.
It’s a win for Covariant — which has the tech but has been unable to commercialize it (it needs more money) or level up its algorithm (it needs more data). That’s no longer a problem at Amazon.
Closing Thoughts: Amazon has already partly automated many of its warehouses, thanks to tech from Kiva Systems, but Covariant could provide the final piece to one day make warehouses fully autonomous (with a few human overseers). That’ll surely optimize Amazon’s operations even more than they already are but will likely anger the many flesh-and-blood people who rely on Amazon warehouses for employment, especially during the busy holiday seasons.
Go Deeper: Acqui-hires — hiring a startup’s team and licensing their tech — is quickly becoming the biggest trend in Big Tech to avoid government scrutiny.
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