For over 25 years, we have been pioneering the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to delight customers, deploying these tools for everything from curating customer recommendations in the 1990s to debuting Alexa a decade ago. Today, Amazon teams are innovating ways to leverage AI in more areas than ever before, from health care and climate advocacy to business and entertainment.
As our integration of AI continues to evolve, we’re launching a roundup of Amazon’s most recent AI news each month. Here’s a look at some of our biggest announcements from October.
Adding investments in climate startups
Our Climate Pledge Fund (CPF) announced three new investments in startups bringing innovative technology and fresh thinking to address the climate change crisis. These startups—Molg, Paebbl, and 14Trees—join the 32 other companies that the $2 billion fund has invested in to date. These startups were selected for the diverse ways they are facing the climate crisis head on, from Molg using circular manufacturing and robotics to address electronic waste to Paebbl turning CO2 into carbon-storing building materials, to 14Trees using 3D printing to build lower-carbon buildings. Together, these investments help us meet The Climate Pledge.
Utilizing cutting-edge tech to empower employees
Ushering in a new era of fulfillment operations, we recently unveiled our next-generation fulfillment centers. The first of these sites is now operating in Shreveport, Louisiana and will create 2,500 jobs and pioneer the use of cutting-edge technologies designed to empower employees and optimize efficiency. The facility is equipped with 10 times the amount of robotics, including systems like Robin, Cardinal, and Sparrow, a trio of AI-powered robotic arms, that efficiently sort, stack, and consolidate millions of items and customer orders. Thanks to advances in generative AI, our latest version of Sparrow can now handle over 200 million unique products of all different shapes, sizes and weights.
By early 2025, we will have deployed 1,000 electric delivery vans that will save drivers effort and time. With the launch of Vision-Assisted Package Retrieval (VAPR), a new AI-powered solution, drivers will simply have to look for VAPR’s green light, grab, and go. On the ground, we’re already seeing results: Early tests showed a 67% reduction in perceived physical and mental effort for drivers. Plus, more than 30 minutes were saved per route.
Making it easier to research products
New AI Shopping Guides are making it easier for customers to research products, by pairing key information about a product type in one place alongside Amazon’s vast selection, helping them make more informed shopping decisions. Customers using the U.S. app (available on iOS and Android) and the mobile site can access the AI Shopping Guide on over 100 different product types from tech items like TV and headphones to everyday household items like dog food and area rugs. Accessing them is simple—they automatically appear. AI Shopping Guides will automatically appear in search autocomplete suggestions when appropriate, and you can click on them to start exploring the guide and narrowing your product search. You can also click the “Keep Shopping For” card on the Amazon homepage to see AI Shopping Guides relevant to your recent shopping activities. You can also explore popular AI Shopping Guides by visiting Amazon.com/AIShoppingGuides.
Also, Rufus, our generative AI-powered expert shopping assistant, launched in beta to customers in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, and Canada via the mobile app.
Devices upgrades with AI
The Fire Tablet family is getting revamped. The new Fire HD 8 lineup has 50% more RAM, enhancing performance while streaming, gaming, or enjoying your favorite apps. Plus, it boasts an improved 5MP camera, and the option to expand storage up to 1TB with a microSD card. The biggest upgrades, however, have to do with the power of generative AI. Through Writing Assist, you can get grammar tips or hone your writing stye to fit your goals (say, turning a note into a more professional email). Meanwhile, Webpage Summaries give you meaningful insights into the pages you’re visiting so you can efficiently parse through information. The new tablets have already started shipping out earlier this month, and customers can get their hands on one starting at just $99.99.
Kindle Scribe’s new Gen AI features, make it easy to summarize pages of handwritten notes into concise bullet points. And if you need a more polished look, you can even transform your handwriting into a legible script font.
Creating more dynamic ads
This month, Amazon Ads announced AI creative studio and Audio generator, two new tools designed to help advertisers create more dynamic ads. “By reducing the complexities of working across multiple formats and placements, these innovations empower advertisers to more easily reach their audiences across the shopping journey,” said Jay Richman, vice president of Creative Experiences for Amazon Ads. These tools will also help level the creative playing field, since people of all skill levels can use AI to research, generate, refine, and publish high-quality ad creatives.
