Amazon unveils a warehouse robot that can "feel" and an AI model to steer its robot fleet

July 2025 — In eight weeks, Amazon announced a robot with a sense of touch, its millionth warehouse robot, and an AI model to coordinate them. Here's what changed after the announcements, what it cost, and what went wrong.

Cost and outcome (as of July 2025)

Vulcan's reach: about 75% of the item types Amazon stocks, per Amazon. (TechCrunch)
Vulcan's use so far: Spokane, Washington and Hamburg, Germany; half a million orders processed, per Amazon. (TechCrunch)
Robots deployed: 1 million, the millionth delivered to a fulfillment center in Japan. (Amazon)
DeepFleet's promise: 10% better robot fleet travel time, per Amazon. (Amazon)
Cost of Vulcan or DeepFleet: not disclosed.

Vulcan

In May 2025, Amazon introduced Vulcan, which it calls its first robot with a sense of touch, at its Delivering the Future event in Dortmund, Germany. TechCrunch's Kyle Wiggers described a two-armed robot that uses force sensors to know when it makes contact with an object. One arm rearranges items in a storage compartment; the other, with a camera and suction cup, grabs items. Amazon describes the stowing tool as resembling "a ruler stuck onto a hair straightener," with sensors that tell it how hard it's pushing. It says Vulcan was trained on physical data, including touch and force feedback, not just computer simulations.

Amazon stores goods in fabric pods divided into compartments about a foot square. At Spokane and Hamburg, Vulcan works the top rows, about 8 feet up, which staff usually reach with a step ladder, and items stowed just above the floor.

Amazon says Vulcan can pick and stow about 75% of item types "at speeds comparable to" front-line employees, and that it asks a human to "tag in" when it can't move an item. TechCrunch reported Vulcan had processed half a million orders, per Amazon.

The typical industrial robot is "numb and dumb," said Aaron Parness, an Amazon director of applied science. "Vulcan works alongside our employees, and the combination is better than either on their own." Amazon says it plans to deploy Vulcan systems at sites in Europe and the US over the next couple of years.

A million robots and DeepFleet

On Jul. 1, Amazon said it had deployed its millionth robot, delivered to a fulfillment center in Japan, across a network of more than 300 facilities. It also introduced DeepFleet, a generative AI model built on its own inventory-movement data with AWS tools, to coordinate robot movements. Amazon likens it to "an intelligent traffic management system" for a city of congested streets. Amazon said DeepFleet would improve fleet travel time by 10%, "enabling us to deliver packages to customers faster and at lower costs."

TechCrunch's Rebecca Szkutak noted a Wall Street Journal report by Sebastian Herrera that Amazon's warehouses may soon have as many robots as people (WSJ, paywalled).

What Amazon says about jobs

Amazon says it has upskilled more than 700,000 employees since 2019. It says its robotics-heavy site in Shreveport, Louisiana requires 30% more employees in reliability, maintenance and engineering roles. It says the robots take on heavy lifting and repetitive tasks, reducing physical strain. TechCrunch noted critics allege the robots are an effort to replace workers; Amazon says they aren't.

What went wrong

Every number is Amazon's. No outside audit of Vulcan's 75% or DeepFleet's 10% has been published.
The baseline is missing. Amazon doesn't say what the 10% is measured against.
Jobs are asserted, not shown. Amazon gives training totals but no headcount effect of the robots.
What we don't know yet: how many Vulcans are deployed, what they cost, and how often they hand items back to people.

Our follow-up question for Amazon

How many Vulcan systems are running today, and how often does Vulcan ask a human to tag in?

Sources

Amazon, “Introducing Vulcan: Amazon's first robot with a sense of touch,” May 2025 (page since updated). aboutamazon.com
Kyle Wiggers, TechCrunch, “Amazon debuts a warehouse robot with a sense of 'touch',” May 7, 2025. techcrunch.com
Amazon, “Amazon launches a new AI foundation model to power its robotic fleet and deploys its 1 millionth robot,” Jul. 1, 2025. aboutamazon.com
Rebecca Szkutak, TechCrunch, “Amazon deploys its 1 millionth robot, releases generative AI model,” Jul. 1, 2025. techcrunch.com
Sebastian Herrera, The Wall Street Journal, “Amazon Is on the Cusp of Using More Robots Than Humans in Its Warehouses,” June 30, 2025 (paywalled; headline and opening read). wsj.com

Disclosure: [not in copy] Editor placeholder