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Retail giants Walmart and Amazon are making further moves into worker automation and tech-enabled logistics with drones and humanoid robot deliveries.
Walmart announced a major expansion of its drone delivery service, while Amazon is developing humanoid robots to support both delivery and warehouse operations.
Walmart's latest move will see its drone delivery service scaled to 100 stores across five states, making it the first retailer to roll out the technology across Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Texas. Customers in cities including Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Orlando and Tampa can now receive deliveries in under 30 minutes.
“As we look ahead, drone delivery will remain a key part of our commitment to redefining retail,” said Greg Cathey, senior vice president of Walmart US Transformation and Innovation. “This expansion of our drone delivery service marks a significant milestone in that journey.”
Drone fleets take off, robots follow suit
Walmart has already completed over 150,000 drone deliveries since launching in 2021. Its partnership with drone provider Wing allows for Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations within a six-mile radius of each participating store.
“This is real drone delivery at scale,” said Wing CEO Adam Woodworth.
Meanwhile, Amazon is trialing AI-powered humanoid robots trained at a “humanoid park” in San Francisco. The robots will ride in the company’s electric Rivian vans, exit to deliver packages, and return to the vehicle for the next drop. The pilot scheme aims to help drivers increase parcel volume per shift.
Amazon has previously invested in drone technology through its Prime Air business and is resuming operations following upgrades to its MK30 drones. It also plans to enhance delivery routing using generative AI to produce more detailed maps that highlight building shapes and access challenges.
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Humanoids head to retail and warehouses
Further ambitions include a new team within Amazon’s Lab126 focused on training warehouse robots through agentic AI, enabling autonomous decision-making for tasks such as trailer unloading.
“The machines might relieve some of the burden of heavy lifting or extremely fast processing during busy periods,” said Amazon robotics scientist Yash Dattatreya.
Elsewhere, SAP, Nvidia and Neura Robotics are using "digital twin environments" to train humanoid robots in retail scenarios.
The robots could anticipate inventory needs after fulfilling orders, blending physical tasks with contextual business insight and could one day see humanoid couriers at large.
The increased use of automated "employees" is a transformative challenge for employers and the employees that work alongside them, raising a number of questions around consumer and worker safety, job security, hiring, training, compliance, and organizational development.
