Amazon is pushing the line between humans and machines even further, investing $15 billion to open 80 massive logistics centers across the U.S., all built around next-generation robots.
Humans are quickly disappearing from factories, warehouses, and a growing list of jobs—and this latest move from Amazon speeds up that process even more. We’re talking about multi-story facilities where hundreds of thousands of robots will handle sorting, packaging, and inventory with almost no need for human workers.
Everything’s already in motion: there’s Proteus, a robot that moves freely without floor markers and works right alongside people, and Digit, a two-legged machine that lifts and transports bins independently—both already deep in testing.
Behind this strategy is one clear goal: to make Prime deliveries even faster. They’ve already become 65% quicker over the past year thanks to automation. And with these new facilities, the number of robots will be ten times greater than in current warehouses.
But there’s a bigger question we need to ask.
When robots are producing most goods and delivering most services in our place—and when humans have fewer and fewer job opportunities—how are people supposed to earn money to buy the very things those robots are making?
