Amazon.com Inc. unveiled a new artificial intelligence tool designed to solve a major problem in its instant delivery tools: drivers sifting through cluttered vans at each stop.
Amazon focused its logistics and online shopping initiatives on Wednesday at a Nashville media event, saying the technology projects a green circle on packages being delivered at each stop and a red Is.
Called Vision Assisted Package Retrieval and in development since 2020, the tool will be deployed in 1,000 Amazon vans over the next year and will shorten the typical delivery route by about 30 minutes, the company said.
The tool uses computer-vision technology initially developed in Amazon warehouses to identify products without using barcode scanners. The technology was optimized for the van’s tight cargo areas and integrated with delivery-route navigation software.
“Delivery drivers no longer have to waste time organizing packages by stop, reading labels, or manually checking key identifiers like a customer’s name or address to make sure they have the right delivery,” Amazon said in a release. It’s the perfect package.” “All they have to do is look for the VAPR green light, grab it, and go.”
The announcement underscores Amazon’s changing priorities under Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy, who took over the role from founder Jeff Bezos in 2021. Bezos charmed the media with grandiose announcements that looked far into the future, such as building a fleet of autonomous delivery drones – a project still underway after it began testing phase more than a decade after it was announced.
Under Jassy, who steered the company through layoffs and shuttered dozens of moonshot projects, a focus on near-term efforts to reduce costs and make Amazon’s low-margin e-commerce business more attractive to Wall Street investors. The focus is on those who are concerned about low profits.
The Seattle-based company relies on a network of small businesses that use 100,000 vans and employ 390,000 drivers to deliver packages. By reducing delivery times, Amazon can limit what it has to pay these delivery service partners, who typically hire drivers by the hour.
Amazon announced several other initiatives:
- AI Shopping Guides are designed to help customers research over 100 product types, ranging from televisions and dog food to headphones and face moisturizers.
- A next-generation fulfillment center in Shreveport, Louisiana, that uses artificial intelligence and robotics to help workers pick and pack orders.
- Same-day prescription drug delivery expansion next year will bring the offering to nearly half of the U.S.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)