admin The next-generation Proteus was shown at Amazon’s Dartford fulfilment centre east of London as part of a wider investment programme of more than €10 billion, equal to about $11.6 billion, aimed at expanding and modernising operations across Europe. The company says the new system will begin deployment in Europe during the first half of 2027, extending the use of autonomous mobile robots beyond limited dock-area operations.
Proteus is designed to move large carts and containers through fulfilment and delivery sites. The current version already operates at 25 locations in the United States, where it handles carts weighing up to nearly 400kg. The upgraded model adds artificial intelligence capabilities that allow employees to issue conversational commands rather than use specialised software or coded instructions.
The change is significant because it shifts warehouse robotics from pre-programmed movement to task-based interaction. A worker can describe what needs to be done, while Proteus determines the order of tasks, selects a route, and manages timing based on operational conditions. Amazon’s robotics division has framed the upgrade as a way to remove physically demanding work from employees while increasing the speed and predictability of fulfilment flows.
The European roll-out forms part of a broader robotics package that includes STARK, a robotic tote-handling system first piloted in Barcelona, and Vulcan, Amazon’s first robot designed with a sense of touch. STARK is expected to be deployed at 15 European sites by 2027, handling repetitive tote movement between conveyors and carts. Vulcan uses pressure and contact sensing to manipulate items more carefully, a capability Amazon sees as important for reducing manual strain in storage and picking operations.
Amazon’s investment push also includes delivery expansion. More than 25 sub-same-day delivery sites are planned across Europe this year, including locations in Britain and Germany. Amazon Now, the company’s ultra-fast essentials delivery service, is set to expand to Manchester and Birmingham, strengthening its challenge to grocery and convenience delivery operators in densely populated urban markets.
The company says the automation drive will be accompanied by the creation of 25,000 jobs and a $1 billion programme for employee upskilling. That message is central to Amazon’s attempt to address concerns that warehouse robotics could reduce labour demand over time. The company argues that its robots are intended to support workers by taking on heavy, repetitive, and ergonomically difficult tasks, while human employees move into roles involving supervision, maintenance, quality control, and exception handling.
Labour groups and workplace researchers are likely to scrutinise the practical effects of the roll-out. Amazon’s warehouses have faced criticism in several markets over work intensity, injury risk, performance targets, and job security. Greater automation may reduce some lifting and walking, but it can also reshape work around tighter process controls and higher throughput expectations. The key test will be whether robotics improves safety and job quality alongside productivity.
The timing of the announcement places Amazon within a wider race among global retailers and logistics operators to use artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, and sensor-based robotics to cut delivery times and manage labour shortages. E-commerce growth has placed pressure on fulfilment networks to process more items faster, while customers increasingly expect same-day or next-day delivery for a wider range of products.
Amazon has spent more than a decade integrating robotics into its operations after its 2012 acquisition of Kiva Systems. Since then, the company has developed a growing ecosystem of mobile robots, robotic arms, automated storage systems, and machine-learning tools that coordinate inventory movement across warehouses. Proteus stands out because it is built to operate safely around people without being confined to cages or strictly separated zones.
