Posted on 10/26/2025 6:23:59 AM PDT by Red Badger
Whatever else its faults — and it has many — one of the good things you can say about Amazon is that it employs a whole heck of a lot of American workers.
At least, it does for now.
CNBC reports:
Amazon on Wednesday unveiled a new robotic system that's capable of performing multiple tasks at once in the company's warehouses.
The system, called Blue Jay, is made up of a series of robotic arms that are suspended from a conveyor belt-like track. Those arms are tipped with suction-cup devices that allow them to grab and sort items of varying shapes and sizes.
"Grabbing and sorting items of varying shapes and sizes" is of course like 90% of what an Amazon warehouse worker does.
To be sure, Amazon already has robots doing a lot of suction-cupping and sorting in its warehouses. But, per the New York Times, Blue Jay is part of an ambitious new bid by the company to deploy vast armies of automated workers and thus replace the flesh-and-blood humans that may get hired there in the future:
Executives told Amazon's board last year that they hoped robotic automation would allow the company to continue to avoid adding to its U.S. work force in the coming years, even though they expect to sell twice as many products by 2033. That would translate to more than 600,000 people whom Amazon didn't need to hire.
Now, according to materials published by Amazon itself, the new "Blue Jay" robot doesn't look all that different from the current set of Terminators the company deploys in its warehouses:
But the robot is "already able to pick, stow, and consolidate approximately 75% of all the various types of items we store at our sites," and the company says it developed the tech behind it much more quickly than previous innovations:
Blue Jay's development moved from concept to production in just over a year — a process that formerly took three or more years for earlier Amazon systems like Robin, Cardinal, or Sparrow. The reason: Years of trial-and-error were condensed into months of development thanks to advancements in AI.
Ahh, yes. AI.
According to the company, Blue Jay is "like a juggler who never drops a ball" and "like a conductor leading an orchestra, with every motion in harmony." That sounds a whole lot heck of a lot like "perfect non-human worker that will replace a butt load of human workers" to me.
Not a great sign if you work at Amazon, I'm afraid.
Resistance is futile...................
You know all of those Amazon trucks that you see on the streets everywhere? Well, they are working hard to finalize driverless cars and trucks. That will heavily affect employment at Amazon and other trucking firms.
It’s called progress. It’s been happening since the dawn of time.
How many had to design, develop, build and market the robots?
who then will throw my packages into the bushes?
Can’t wait. The last few orders I received from Amazon were horribly packed, like the job was done by a two-year old anchor baby. Fire them all. Sick of U.S. companies always rewarding incompetence.
Also, some Freeper is already writing software that through specialized equipment will read Freepers minds and come up with snarky, insurrectionist comments. How us it working so far, lesser ones?
Also, some Freeper is already writing software that through specialized equipment will read Freepers minds and come up with snarky, insurrectionist comments. How us it working so far, lesser ones?
Looks like Blue Jay doesn’t understand “FRAGILE”.
(It’ll need to learn Italian.)
Stkll has a bug or two.
Also to program, maintain, troubleshoot and repair the robots.
Me:
Are Elon Musk’s Optimus robots for sale now and how much do they cost?
Meta AI:
The Tesla Optimus robots aren’t available for purchase yet, but Elon Musk has announced plans for the Optimus Gen 3, set to launch in 2026. The expected price range for this model is between $15,000 and $18,000, making it significantly more affordable than its competitors, such as Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot, which costs over $120,000.
Key Features of Optimus Gen 3:
Walking Speed: 10-12 km/h, faster than previous models
Payload Capacity: 20 kg, suitable for tasks like lifting bags or small furniture
Battery Life: 10-12 hours, providing all-day support without frequent recharges
AI Integration: 99.7% facial recognition accuracy and robust voice command understanding
Hand Dexterity: Highly sensitive fingertip sensors for precision handling
The Optimus Gen 3 is designed to assist people with disabilities, providing independent mobility support, real-time assistance, and precise handling. It’s also expected to integrate seamlessly with Tesla’s ecosystem, including electric cars and solar systems ¹.
Me: Will the Optimus Gen 3 have AI?
Meta AI:
The Tesla Optimus Gen 3 will indeed feature advanced AI capabilities. Here are some key aspects of its AI integration ¹ ²:
Grok Voice: This AI-powered natural language assistant enables Optimus to understand context, support multiple languages, and adapt to noisy environments, allowing for natural conversations.
AI-driven neural networks: Optimus combines teleoperation, hardcoding, and AI-driven neural networks to perform tasks traditionally handled by humans, emphasizing adaptability, precision, and autonomy.
Sim-to-Real training: Tesla uses this method to train Optimus, where the robot learns by watching humans in simulation environments and then applies that learning to real-world situations.
Visual AI mapping: Optimus uses cameras, depth sensors, and visual AI mapping to create a 3D layout of its surroundings, avoid obstacles, and adapt to changes in real time.
These AI features will enable Optimus Gen 3 to perform various tasks, such as:
Household chores: cleaning, cooking, folding laundry, and serving drinks
Industrial tasks: carrying items, assisting with assembly, performing inspections, and handling logistics and inventory tasks
Assistance: providing voice-guided help, showing visual instructions, and acting as a patient companion, making it ideal for elderly or tech-challenged users ¹
https://youtu.be/QzJqLn49Xuc
I worked for a shipping company in my teens and people don’t know what goes on there........FRAGILE? Throw it on top...............
Pretty soon we will have robot porch pirates too! It is all so exciting. /s
Amazon is replacing delivery trucks with delivery drones. Our dogs are gonna have a real party in the backyard pretty soon. Amazon can’t use our front lawn as the landing zone, because it’s covered by trees.
I think locker trucks might be the way to go.
Stuff would be loaded into lockers (no boxes at 50 cents each needed) on (or placed on) trucks (or trailers) which are driven to sites the customers can pick.
Jesse Jackson would like to know how many colors these things come in.
Imagine the savings on power costs because robots don’t need the lights on.
>>last few orders I received from Amazon were horribly packed
I try to interfere with the incompetence. I assume everything is thrown into a box with minimal padding, so only order things to be delivered on a given day that won’t be injured by that technique. Anything that’s very breakable is ordered for delivery on a day when nothing else is coming.
Ordering potato chips with other orders and ordering 3 glass bottles to be delivered the same day taught me well.
For some strange reason, they have never broken a SINGLE glass bottle delivered alone on a day, so I SLOWLY order all the glass bottles that I want, one by one, on no-orders-arriving days.
WE are smarter than them. Don’t give up. Just beat them at their game.
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