Amazon unveiled a new version of its Proteus warehouse robot that understands plain-language commands and plans tasks from text prompts.
The update represents a shift toward more intuitive human-robot collaboration in logistics. By allowing staff to assign tasks via natural-language conversation, the company aims to increase fulfillment efficiency across its global network.
Amazon introduced the robot Thursday at the “Delivering the Future” event in London. The upgraded Proteus operates fully autonomously and can translate a worker's text prompt into a concrete action plan without requiring specialized coding or complex interfaces.
This rollout is part of a broader strategy to automate operations across Europe. Amazon is investing €10 billion, or approximately $11.6 billion [1], into European automation. Some reports list the investment at $11 billion [2]. The company expects to deploy Proteus across Europe by 2027 [3].
The introduction of advanced AI in warehouses often raises concerns regarding the displacement of human workers. John Boumphrey, an Amazon executive, said these concerns were addressed during the announcement.
"Our experience of robots is that it's actually driven up employment rather than the reverse," Boumphrey said.
The company intends to use the robot to streamline the movement of goods within its facilities. Because the robot can navigate autonomously and interpret human intent, it reduces the technical barrier for warehouse employees to direct machinery in real time.
“The upgraded Proteus operates fully autonomously and can translate a worker's text prompt into a concrete action plan.”
The integration of large language model capabilities into physical robotics marks a transition from robots that follow rigid scripts to those that interpret intent. This allows Amazon to scale its logistics infrastructure with less reliance on specialized programmers on the warehouse floor, though it accelerates the automation of roles previously requiring human decision-making.
