Amazon’s acquisition of the robotics company Kiva Systems in 2012 has helped the retail giant efficiently ship almost any product on earth to just about anyone. But those robots are pretty good stagehands as well.
At the Amazon All-Hands meeting in Seattle this week, CEO Jeff Bezos used the warehouse workers to help him with his presentation. Six robots did a coordinated dance to create a shape-shifting sign, while a seventh robot appears to be equipped with a table, to which Bezos waves goodbye.
Got a little help from Amazon Robotics on stage today at our All-Hands in Seattle https://t.co/8Ies2thPmr
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) April 1, 2016
Robots are a growing interest for Amazon. Last month, the company brought together robotics experts, along with leaders in the fields of AI and spaceflight, for a secret meeting that looked at those high-tech frontiers.
In addition to the seven robots helping Bezos out on stage, the company has 30,000 Kiva robots helping out in its warehouses, including at its 1-million-square-foot, eighth-generation fulfillment center in DuPont, Wash. That’s where humans and robots work together in “perfect symbiosis,” according to Mike Roth, Amazon’s vice president for North American operations.
