AkhenOsiris
$AMZN
FT:
Amazon’s $1bn industrial innovation fund is to step up investments in companies that combine artificial intelligence and robotics, as the ecommerce giant seeks to drive efficiencies across its logistics network.
Franziska Bossart, head of the corporate venture capital arm that was set up in 2022, told the Financial Times that “generative AI holds a lot of promise for robotics and automation” and is an area “we are going to focus on this year”.
She added that the fund’s pace of investment would “absolutely” accelerate in 2024. It made its first investment in a generative AI company last year, the details of which have not been disclosed.
The Amazon industrial innovation fund has made 12 investments in total, including in Mantis Robotics, which is developing a robotic arm that uses sensors to work alongside humans.
She said the Amazon fund would expand its focus this year, including by seeking to invest in companies involved in the “last mile” of deliveries, when packages arrive with customers, as well as geographically and in later-stage companies. However, Bossart would not be drawn on how much the fund has deployed so far, declining to comment on a report it has invested $110mn as of June.
The focus on the automation of warehouses and logistics was not about cutting people out of them altogether, but would result in a “shift in jobs” as more robots and automated vehicles took on repetitive or dangerous tasks, she said. “We’re also a long way off from replacing all humans,” she added
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$AMZN
FT:
Amazon’s $1bn industrial innovation fund is to step up investments in companies that combine artificial intelligence and robotics, as the ecommerce giant seeks to drive efficiencies across its logistics network.
Franziska Bossart, head of the corporate venture capital arm that was set up in 2022, told the Financial Times that “generative AI holds a lot of promise for robotics and automation” and is an area “we are going to focus on this year”.
She added that the fund’s pace of investment would “absolutely” accelerate in 2024. It made its first investment in a generative AI company last year, the details of which have not been disclosed.
The Amazon industrial innovation fund has made 12 investments in total, including in Mantis Robotics, which is developing a robotic arm that uses sensors to work alongside humans.
She said the Amazon fund would expand its focus this year, including by seeking to invest in companies involved in the “last mile” of deliveries, when packages arrive with customers, as well as geographically and in later-stage companies. However, Bossart would not be drawn on how much the fund has deployed so far, declining to comment on a report it has invested $110mn as of June.
The focus on the automation of warehouses and logistics was not about cutting people out of them altogether, but would result in a “shift in jobs” as more robots and automated vehicles took on repetitive or dangerous tasks, she said. “We’re also a long way off from replacing all humans,” she added
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The Long Investor
Jim, can you not.
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Jim, can you not.
Given the success of the bitcoin etf it's pretty obvious that an ethereum etf will soon bloom - Jim Cramertweet
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