Amazon acquires Fauna Robotics, entering consumer humanoid market with Sprout robot

Amazon Acquires Fauna Robotics, Entering Consumer Humanoid Market

Amazon.com Inc. acquired New York-based startup Fauna Robotics, becoming the latest technology giant to step into the burgeoning consumer humanoid market. The cloud-computing and e-commerce giant closed the deal for Fauna last week, according to people familiar with the purchase, who requested anonymity to discuss a private matter. Fauna is developing a human-like, 42-inch tall robot with arms and legs that can interact with people, walk, grip items and dance. Fauna started deploying the machine, called Sprout, to research and development partners in January. Sprout is smaller than rival humanoids, and Fauna sees it handling chores such as picking up toys and fetching food from the pantry in homes and offices. An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the acquisition, saying the company is "excited about Fauna's vision to build capable, safe and fun robots for everyone." Fauna's roughly 50 employees will join Amazon and the company will continue deploying Sprout to outside researchers. "Together with Amazon's robotics expertise and decades of experience earning customer trust in the home through our retail and devices businesses, we're looking forward to inventing new ways to make our customers' lives better and easier," the spokesperson added. Fauna has raised at least $30 million from Kleiner Perkins, Quiet Capital and Lux Capital. Amazon didn't disclose the acquisition price. The robot startup will keep its name but will begin being referred to as "Fauna, an Amazon company." Its co-founders Rob Cochran and Josh Merel will join Amazon as well. The company is moving from its office in New York to an Amazon building in the area. Fauna is joining Amazon's Personal Robotics Group, part of the company's operations division. But Amazon isn't planning to deploy the robot in its operations and hasn't yet determined exactly how the technology will be marketed to consumers. Amazon, in 2021, launched the Astro, a home robot that has seen limited traction. The company has demonstrated humanoid-like technology for package fulfillment and warehouse-related purposes, but Fauna's technology would likely be aimed specifically at the consumer robotics market. If Amazon launches a humanoid product. it would compete with major in-the-works projects like the Telsa Optimus, Figure AI robot, offerings from Boston Dynamics and various startups. Apple Inc., Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google have all also expressed interest in the field. Amazon has made previous robot-related acquisitions, but those have been centered on fulfilling online shopping orders and package deliveries. Last week, Amazon confirmed it acquired Rivr, which makes a four-legged robot to help delivery drivers. Sprout has a developer platform that lets researchers and scientists build applications for the device. The humanoid has natural voice interaction capabilities that allow it to hold back-and-forth conversations and respond to the wake word "Sprout." The robot, currently priced at $50,000, can recognize when it's being addressed, give high fives, shake hands, wave, crawl and form memories over time. In addition to serving adults, it's designed to eventually fit into environments with children and pets. The current version uses artificial intelligence to help the bot maintain balance and includes a swappable battery that lasts about three hours on a single charge. Sprout runs on Nvidia Corp.'s Jetson Orin robotics platform, has dual speakers, one terabyte of storage and an LED array.

Amazon buys Fauna Robotics, maker of the Sprout humanoid robot that can dance and pick up toys | Fortune

Amazon has acquired Fauna Robotics, just under two months after the startup introduced a humanoid robot called Sprout designed to be a friendly addition to social spaces like homes and schools. The e-commerce giant is already a robotics powerhouse, having boasted of deploying more than 1 million robots across its warehouse operations, but bringing the 3.5-foot-tall, rectangular-headed Sprout on board adds a robot that's more about fun interactions than heavy lifting. Fauna CEO Rob Cochran said on social media he was "incredibly excited to share that Fauna Robotics has officially joined the Amazon family" and said the New York-based firm will now "operate as Fauna Robotics, an Amazon company." Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Amazon said the company's founders and employees will join Amazon in New York and will be looking for "new ways to make our customers' lives better and easier." Fauna's debut product, launched in January, is a software developer platform more than just a robot, sold to academic and corporate research laboratories that are exploring robotics in the home. Early customers included Disney. The $50,000 Sprout can't lift heavy objects, but it can dance the Twist or the Floss, grab a toy block or teddy bear, or hoist itself from a chair and take a stroll. Amazon, which also makes the artificial intelligence assistant Alexa that's already present in many homes, has had some challenges in recent years in expanding into consumer robotics. Amazon called off its purchase of robot vacuum maker iRobot in 2024 after facing regulatory hurdles in Europe and the United States.

Amazon adds a cute humanoid to its robot lineup

Amazon has acquired New York City-based Fauna Robotics just a couple of months after it unveiled Sprout, a cute humanoid robot. Specific details of the buyout have yet to be shared, but Fauna CEO Rob Cochran said in a LinkedIn post on Tuesday that he was "incredibly excited" about the development. "When we launched in NYC back in February 2024, we set out with a clear mission: to 'build capable, safe, and fun robots for everyone,'" Cochran wrote in the post. "Looking back at how far we've come in just two years, I am immensely proud of everything our team has accomplished." But what does the buyout mean for Sprout, its friendly humanoid robot designed to operate safely in shared human spaces? Cochran reassured owners that it's still selling the Sprout Creator Edition robots to new customers and is providing continued support to all of its existing ones. "Essentially, no change to the work we're doing together," the CEO said, adding that the firm will continue to "operate as Fauna Robotics, an Amazon company." Amazon has invested billions of dollars in robotics technology over the years -- mainly for warehouse automation and logistics -- and with Fauna now under its umbrella, it plans to leverage its engineers' expertise to further improve its technology. In a widely reported statement, the e-commerce giant said: "Together with Amazon's robotics expertise and decades of experience earning customer trust in the home through our retail and devices businesses, we're looking forward to inventing new ways to make our customers' lives better and easier." Fauna Robotics was founded two years ago and launched Sprout, its debut product, in January. Costing $50,000, the 3.5-foot-tall humanoid robot is targeted for a range of sectors, including retail and hospitality, where it can meet and greet, showcase products, and guide people around. With custom voices, gestures, and movements, Sprout can also function as "a friendly concierge for the home." In fact, it reminds us a bit of SoftBank's Pepper robot, which the company discontinued in 2021 after a lukewarm reception. Sprout, which comes bundled with a developer platform for creating custom applications, is also pitched at researchers keen on advancing AI development in areas of locomotion, manipulation, and interactive behaviors, and can also offer learning opportunities for students interested in technology.

Amazon acquires humanoid robot start-up Fauna Robotics

From left: Fauna co-founders Rob Cochran and Josh Merel with the start-up's robot Sprout. Image: Adam Lerner Fauna has built Sprout, a humanoid robot designed as a testing platform for robotics researchers and developers. Tech giant Amazon has acquired Fauna Robotics, a New York-based humanoid robotics developer, for an undisclosed amount. Fauna Robotics has developed a 42-inch tall humanoid robot called Sprout that can interact with people, walk, grip items and dance. The company has also included a developer platform with the robot, which allows researchers and scientists build applications for the device. The acquisition was first reported by Bloomberg, which verified the deal through an Amazon spokesperson. While the acquisition was first revealed yesterday (24 March), sources told Bloomberg that the deal was completed last week. As part of the acquisition, Fauna - and its team of roughly 50 employees - will join Amazon's Personal Robotics Group and the company will continue to deploy Sprout to outside researchers. While the start-up will keep its name, it will now be referred to as 'Fauna, an Amazon company' according to Bloomberg. "Together with Amazon's robotics expertise and decades of experience earning customer trust in the home through our retail and devices businesses, we're looking forward to inventing new ways to make our customers' lives better and easier," an Amazon spokesperson told Bloomberg. Fauna was established in 2024 by Josh Merel, a former Meta and Google DeepMind researcher, and Rob Cochran, former head of product at CTRL-Labs, a neural interface tech company that was acquired by Meta in 2019 and integrated into Facebook Reality Labs. Fauna first launched the $50,000 robot out of stealth in January, available for researchers, educators and commercial developers. The robot has been designed to operate in "shared human spaces" according to Fauna. A major component of the machine is its application as a testing platform for robotics researchers and developers. Fauna stated that Sprout is equipped with a number of developer functions such as modular AI architecture that allows robotics teams to use their own AI models anywhere in the system, trained motor control policies, and built-in mapping and localisation capabilities. The robot has been built with the 64GB Nvidia Jetson AGX Orin, a small AI supercomputer designed for robotics, autonomous machines, medical devices and other forms of embedded computing at the edge. Amazon's purchase of Fauna hasn't been the tech giant's only robotics news this month. Last week, the e-commerce company acquired Rivr, a Zurich-based autonomous robotics start-up known for its stair-climbing delivery robot. These acquisitions come after Amazon announced layoffs in its own robotics division at the start of March. Cuts in the robotics division came after Amazon halted its 'Blue Jay' warehouse robotics projects less than six months after launching - Blue Jay was a multi-armed robot designed to sort and move packages. However, despite the hurdles, Amazon's robotics division has been considerably successful, having deployed Amazon's one millionth robot in operations last June. At the same time, the company also launched a new generative AI foundation model designed to make its robot fleet 10pc more efficient. The robotics cuts were revealed roughly five weeks after Amazon announced company-wide layoffs of roughly 16,000 workers. Don't miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic's digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.

Amazon Buys Fauna Robotics, Maker of the Sprout Humanoid Robot

NEW YORK (AP) -- Amazon has acquired Fauna Robotics, just under two months after the startup introduced a humanoid robot called Sprout designed to be a friendly addition to social spaces like homes and schools. The e-commerce giant is already a robotics powerhouse, having boasted of deploying more than 1 million robots across its warehouse operations, but bringing the 1.5-foot-tall, rectangular-headed Sprout on board adds a robot that's more about fun interactions than heavy lifting. Fauna CEO Rob Cochran said on social media he was "incredibly excited to share that Fauna Robotics has officially joined the Amazon family" and said the New York-based firm will now "operate as Fauna Robotics, an Amazon company." Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Amazon said the company's founders and employees will join Amazon in New York and will be looking for "new ways to make our customers' lives better and easier." Fauna's debut product, launched in January, is a software developer platform more than just a robot, sold to academic and corporate research laboratories that are exploring robotics in the home. Early customers included Disney. The $50,000 Sprout can't lift heavy objects, but it can dance the Twist or the Floss, grab a toy block or teddy bear, or hoist itself from a chair and take a stroll. Amazon, which also makes the artificial intelligence assistant Alexa that's already present in many homes, has had some challenges in recent years in expanding into consumer robotics. Amazon called off its purchase of robot vacuum maker iRobot in 2024 after facing regulatory hurdles in Europe and the United States.

Amazon Targets Consumer Robotics Market With Fauna Acquisition | PYMNTS.com

The acquisition was announced in posts on LinkedIn by Fauna Robotics Co-founder and CEO Rob Cochran and Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Josh Merel. "When we launched in NYC back in February 2024, we set out with a clear mission: to 'build capable, safe and fun robots for everyone,'" Cochran said in his post. "Looking back at how far we've come in just two years, I am immensely proud of everything our team has accomplished." Fauna Robotics is still selling and supporting its Sprout Creator Edition robots, Cochran said. Going forward, the company will be known as "Fauna Robotics, an Amazon company," and it is actively hiring, he added. Merel said in his post: "Looking forward to accelerating Fauna's vision and continuing to build with our incredible team, now in our next phase with Amazon." Bloomberg reported on the acquisition Tuesday (March 24), saying that Cochran, Merel and Fauna's roughly 50 employees will join Amazon, that Fauna will join Amazon's Personal Robotics Group, and that the firm will continue offering Sprout to outside researchers. Sprout is 42 inches tall, which is smaller than rival humanoid robots, and is expected to be used in homes and offices for tasks such as picking up toys and fetching food, according to the report. An Amazon spokesperson told Bloomberg that the company is "excited about Fauna's vision to build capable, safe and fun robots for everyone." "Together with Amazon's robotics expertise and decades of experience earning customer trust in the home through our retail and devices businesses, we're looking forward to inventing new ways to make our customers' lives better and easier," the spokesperson said, per the report. This report came about a week after Amazon acquired RIVR, a company based in Switzerland and formerly known as Swiss-Mile that uses physical artificial intelligence and wheeled-legged robots to automate doorstep delivery. An Amazon spokesperson told CNBC at the time that the acquisition of RIVR "reflects our commitment to a continued investment in research" and efforts to improve safety for the company's delivery personnel.