Amazon Introduces AI Robot That Understands Spoken Commands
Amazon has unveiled an upgraded version of its autonomous warehouse robot, Proteus, which employees can direct using natural, everyday language. The announcement came during the company’s “Delivering the Future” event at its fulfillment center in Dartford, east of London.
At the same event, the company revealed plans to create 25,000 new jobs across Europe. Additionally, it committed more than €10 billion to expand and modernize its European fulfillment network. It also pledged $1 billion globally to its Career Choice employee upskilling program.
The latest Proteus represents a major step forward in warehouse automation. While the original model operated mainly in dock areas and transported carts weighing nearly 400 kilograms, the new version can move items throughout fulfillment centers and delivery facilities. As a result, it can support a wider range of logistics tasks.
More importantly, employees can now communicate with the robot through conversational language. Instead of relying on technical commands, workers can simply describe what needs to be done.
“You tell it what needs to be done. It figures out the priority, the route, the timing,” said Scott Dresser, vice president of Amazon Robotics. “It becomes your assistant for material movement.”
The company is currently testing the system in its laboratories. If the trials continue successfully, European deployment is expected during the first half of 2027.
Robotics Expansion Continues Across Europe
Alongside Proteus, Amazon showcased several other robotics projects. One of them is STARK, a collaborative robotic system designed to handle totes. It lifts full totes from conveyors and places them onto carts, thereby reducing repetitive heavy-lifting tasks for employees.
Notably, the idea for STARK originated from an operations employee. After a successful pilot in Barcelona, Spain, the company plans to introduce the system at 15 European sites by 2027.
Meanwhile, Vulcan, the company’s first robot equipped with touch-sensitive force-feedback sensors, is expanding its presence. Initially developed for a facility in Spokane, Washington, Vulcan now operates in Hamburg, Germany, where it performs more advanced item-picking tasks.
Major Investment and Workforce Development Plans
According to Dresser, Europe will play a central role in the company’s future operations strategy.
“Europe is at the center of how we’re building our operations for the future,” Dresser said. “The investment we’re making here, the talent we’re building with here, the technology we’re deploying here—this is where the next chapter of operations innovation is being written.”
The €10 billion investment will support fulfillment center expansion and modernization in the coming years. At the same time, the Career Choice initiative aims to help an additional 500,000 employees worldwide gain new skills. Furthermore, more than €30 million has been allocated to the program across Europe in 2026.
As automation advances, the company continues to pair robotics innovation with workforce development. Consequently, it aims to improve operational efficiency while creating new opportunities for employees across the region.
