Amazon's $1 billion Industrial Innovation Fund is set to ramp up investments in companies that combine artificial intelligence and robotics, as the e-commerce giant aims to streamline its entire logistics network.
Franziska Bossert, head of the company's 2022 corporate venture capital division, told the Financial Times that “generative AI has huge potential for robotics and automation” and is “our focus this year.” He said that it is a field.
He added that the fund's investment pace will “absolutely” accelerate in 2024. The fund made its first investment in a generative AI company last year, without disclosing details.
The Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund has invested in 12 companies, including Mantis Robotics, which is developing a robot arm that uses sensors to work with humans.
The fund is seeking new investments in generative AI groups as Big Tech companies pour billions into developing technology that can generate human-like text, images and code in seconds. .
Microsoft is plowing up to $13 billion into OpenAI and incorporating the ChatGPT maker's technology into its Office suite of productivity apps and Bing search engine. Microsoft announced Monday that it has invested in French AI startup Mistral. Separately from the Innovation Fund, Amazon is investing up to $4 billion in generative AI startup Anthropic.
Amazon has a history of innovating in robotics, announcing that it will invest more than 400 million euros in 2022 in technologies such as industrial robots and sorting systems for its European warehouses. The company has deployed his 750,000 mobile robots across its operational network.
The Industrial Innovation Fund is seeking investment in start-ups that can support the e-commerce group's goals of being “more efficient, safer for employees and faster in delivering to customers.” Bossard said.
He said the Amazon fund will expand its focus this year, including seeking investments in companies involved in the “last mile” of delivery, where packages reach customers, as well as geographic and later-stage companies. . But Bossert wouldn't say how much money the fund has invested so far, and declined to comment on reports that it had invested $110 million as of June.
The focus on warehousing and logistics automation is not to completely remove humans from warehouses and logistics, but rather as more robots and self-driving vehicles take on repetitive or dangerous tasks. There will be “a shift in employment,” he said. “We are far from replacing everyone,” she added.
Amazon's use of AI to drive automation may raise concerns among the company's thousands of shipping and warehouse employees around the world, but its investment arm will deploy more capital this year The declaration may encourage tech startups.
Venture capitalists are resisting new bets on startups amid the recent tech downturn, focusing instead on backing existing companies in portfolios and groups that can demonstrate profitability.
Amazon's desire to automate and streamline its entire warehouse and supply chain is also part of a broader strategy to boost profit margins after investing heavily in its logistics network during the pandemic.
Recent efforts to “regionalize” the U.S. network include restructuring the nation's parcel packing, sorting, and delivery hubs and fleets into eight regional networks, moving goods closer to customers. Amazon announced in February that it would be cheaper.
However, there were still areas where “we thought we could speed up delivery to customers while reducing costs.” CEO Andy Jassy said:
© 2024 The Financial Times Ltd. All rights reserved. May not be redistributed, copied or modified in any way.