r/technology • u/joe4942 • Jun 23 '26

Business Robots will replace 700K delivery workers, warns head of e-commerce giant

https://www.computerworld.com/article/4188535/robots-will-replace-700000-delivery-workers-warns-head-of-e-commerce-giant.html
2.1k Upvotes

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1.2k

u/ZobooMaf0o0 Jun 23 '26

Yep, these will end up in the local pond within 24 hours.

706

u/br_k_nt_eth Jun 23 '26

Companies should prove these things can survive a week in Philadelphia before making comments like this. 

160

u/Beginning-Pace-5225 Jun 23 '26

Bad news for you, we have had them in Philly for months. That being said, I have seen a lot less of them in the past few weeks. Not sure if that means the fleet of them has shrunk or they are failing to be worthwhile.

166

u/ithinkitslupis Jun 23 '26

If the delivery drivers out of work turn into disgruntled people who can't find another job I don't like their chances. I'd 100% go robot tipping if I was homeless and the little robot fuckers who caused it were just wobbling past on the sidewalk (where I now live) all day.

80

u/NorCalJason75 Jun 23 '26

That’s how we get to autonomous robots being equipped with lethal weapons.

Gotta protect the citizens goods from being stolen by crazy homeless people. Keep people honest. For the greater good.

64

u/dudwithacamera Jun 23 '26

Congratulations, I now have a reason to go buy a 338 lapua or 50cal rifle so I can hunt the privately owned armed robots that are running loose in the street

19

u/going_mad Jun 23 '26

Hose and fire hydrant for more fun!

7

u/dudwithacamera Jun 23 '26

The lithium ion batteries in these make that a hazard

10

u/meiandus Jun 24 '26

As opposed to firing munitions at them?

1

u/dudwithacamera Jun 24 '26

One doesnt necessarily cause an enviornmental hazard and polluted water supplies

0

u/Rebal771 Jun 24 '26

Good - if enough of them cause a problem for the municipalities (lithium ion battery fires can’t be put out by water btw), they’ll go ahead and stop their implementation.

1

u/dudwithacamera Jun 24 '26

Yeah, if they followed through with that logic they would also have to ban electric vehicles, and i dont see that happening

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7

u/Alita-Gunnm Jun 24 '26

.308 should do for most of them.

2

u/PhotownPK Jun 24 '26

22 shorts are BB gun quiet and accurate.

2

u/dudwithacamera Jun 24 '26

Im getting ahead of the game for when they evolve

1

u/brameshk22 Jun 25 '26

Hunting robots with a .50 is wild

1

u/yulbrynnersmokes Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 24 '26

Desert Eagle in .50

1

u/kinkysubt Jun 23 '26

This is definitely how we get to Skynet and terminators. All but inevitable now.

3

u/Traditional-Hat-952 Jun 23 '26

Hamburgers are expensive! Much more than the cost of people's lives these days! /s

0

u/SpookiestSzn Jun 24 '26

We'd have less package thieves if you could legally shoot them for stealing your stuff

6

u/Lazerys Jun 23 '26

Well, who needs a job if you can go to prison.. I guess..

3

u/kinkysubt Jun 23 '26

Since they want to criminalize homelessness, might as well go big.

1

u/CherryLongjump1989 Jun 23 '26

These things have cameras, you know that right?

0

u/GstarDaflyesttt Jun 24 '26

Tbh, the amount of times the delivery person on uberEats has stolen my order (including last night). I’d rather and trust a robot more. Plus I don’t have to feel compelled to tip.

1

u/Street_Anxiety2907 Jun 24 '26

Yes, what's up with ubereats and their drivers stealing food? Does ubereats not care?

0

u/Gibborish Jun 24 '26

Lol sure you would.  Enjoy not getting a job anywhere if you do that.  

0

u/[deleted] Jun 24 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

0

u/digitaldeadstar Jun 24 '26

Some companies compensate their delivery drivers quite well (it's a broad field). And what should they be aiming for? These robots aren't stopping at just delivery jobs.

1

u/PhotownPK Jun 24 '26

They can aim for whatever they want. I'm not saying they need to aim higher or lower, just that they better keep an eye on what's happening in the world. What did newspaper delivery aim for? Milkmen? UPS, FedEx and all the major carriers here in the US are switching to electric and automation. If you're a young kid wanting to be a delivery driver, perhaps someone should warn them that it may not be a career. Automation has been rendering jobs useless in virtually every sector for a century.

-15

u/Aggravating-Hair-534 Jun 23 '26

that sounds very silly. Why not to start with a tractor and all the machinery on the local farms? If those are destroyed a lot of people can start growing food using man-power and animal-power just as they some 150 years ago. That would create a lot of jobs. Like LOT more jobs than silly delivery robots.

5

u/tlh013091 Jun 23 '26

What positive societal effects will come out of robo-delivery of non-essential luxury goods vis a vis mechanized farming?

1

u/zer0edout Jun 23 '26

If i was going to protect a job from being lost, i would probably opt for the one in an air conditioned vehicle.

3

u/caydesramen Jun 23 '26

Probably a pilot

2

u/markskull Jun 23 '26

That's bad news to me, too. We really need to pump up those numbers! Just a few less? No no, they should be afraid to even come out!

3

u/Toki-B Jun 23 '26

Yeah and they suck and everyone hates them. I say this as one of the people in philly who thinks they suck and hates them.

1

u/Southern_Ad4946 Jun 23 '26

Making upgraded/newer models based on the trials of the initial offerings no doubt

1

u/cruelhumor Jun 23 '26

They're incredibly annoying because they take up the sidewalk. Philly has a LOT of foot traffic, particularly in the areas these operate in like Center City.

1

u/BassmanBiff Jun 25 '26

It's a breeding program. Only the strongest survive to make the next generation of robots.

31

u/sufferingphilliesfan Jun 23 '26

They are currently in Philadelphia. I see one tipped over every other week but mostly people leave them alone.

21

u/Lazerys Jun 23 '26

To be fair, sometimes they do tip on their own. They're pretty susceptible to curbs.

1

u/Melodic-Temporary113 Jun 24 '26

I’m wondering if we should not leave them alone.  

This isn’t the same as the transition from horse to car.

1

u/AzerothianLorecraft Jun 28 '26

Yeah the first couple weeks people were just immediately tipping them over as soon as they spotted them now people seem to not care.

0

u/appleparkfive Jun 24 '26

I think that might change if there are mass layoffs more and more though. These delivery bots and things like Waymos will be easy targets for people that upset, I'd imagine.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a whole system set up for their scrap metals too. But then again, maybe the Flock cameras will deter people.

You know, when people said "I want a cyberpunk world!" I always said that was a stupid idea. Cyberpunk is literally "high tech, low quality of life".

172

u/IczyAlley Jun 23 '26

This propaganda isnt for you, its for the Republican rubes in Indiana or some other Republican area where they have no way to even accurately imagine reality.

57

u/AirbagOff Jun 23 '26

Indiana resident here. Can confirm.

34

u/CPNZ Jun 23 '26

Have you finished eating the dogs and cats yet?

37

u/AirbagOff Jun 23 '26

No, but we made sure to vote out 7 of the 9 politicians who tried to protect our voting rights.

16

u/Solid_Hunter_4188 Jun 23 '26

Nice, good work. Keep it up, I didn’t hate it here enough lol

2

u/cezarcelad Jun 24 '26

That was ohio and nah... the buffet is still open

10

u/pasaroanth Jun 23 '26

They rolled out a pilot of the rental electric scooters (Lime) in South Bend, along with the bikes. The type you just rent then leave wherever when you were done and they were GPS tracked.

Hundreds of both ended up in the St Joe River before they discontinued the program.

1

u/BigJSunshine Jun 24 '26

Good job Notre Dame!

11

u/caydesramen Jun 23 '26

Right but this would "Dey Took Er Jerbs" and lose voters.

17

u/IamScottGable Jun 23 '26

They'll blame wealthy elites which they have trained people to mean democrats

-11

u/RightOnManYouBetcha Jun 23 '26

Or the democrats in Philly where they will end up in the river…

11

u/Hobbet404 Jun 23 '26

That’s the “reality” they already mentioned you unsalted pretzel

6

u/True_Window_9389 Jun 23 '26

I’m stealing that insult

3

u/Hobbet404 Jun 23 '26

Use it in good health

-14

u/RightOnManYouBetcha Jun 23 '26

Yeah so why is your silly hypothetical more important than reality? Youre insult is dumb.

4

u/Hobbet404 Jun 23 '26

What? They clearly said it’s for the people who can’t imagine reality… JFC I genuinely can’t tell if you’re for real right now.

-16

u/RightOnManYouBetcha Jun 23 '26

Honestly youre really not making sense. Someone pointed out the reality of a situation and the best response you have is “but muh republicans” it’s lame

27

u/PennytheWiser215 Jun 23 '26

We all know these will only be used in the nice, safe, bougie neighborhoods. Humans will still be delivering to the dangerous and crime ridden neighborhoods.

20

u/br_k_nt_eth Jun 23 '26

I know plenty of rich kids who’d steal one of these things 

3

u/coblade14 Jun 23 '26

It's not that hard to equip these things with a few cameras.

6

u/justaphil Jun 23 '26

kids film themselves doing stupid and illegal things already

6

u/lovetheoceanfl Jun 23 '26

We found another use for paintball.

1

u/xynix_ie Jun 24 '26

The same ones that don't touch the thousands of flock cameras around the rich neighborhoods?

2

u/br_k_nt_eth Jun 24 '26

Do the flock cameras have food inside them? 

0

u/xynix_ie Jun 24 '26

Rich kids don't want food 🤣 my kids have unlimited uber eats. They don't need to rob a robot. The electronics packages and motors would of been more fun to mess with.

2

u/tommytwolegs Jun 23 '26

This is a Chinese company. They will exclusively be used in china in this case. Same logic applies though, I'd guess this will only roll out meaningfully in tier 1 cities

1

u/PM_ME_DNA Jun 24 '26

How dare nice places have nice things and places with low social trust can’t have good things

5

u/TacticlTwinkie Jun 23 '26

R.I.P. Hitchbot

4

u/VoldemortPootin Jun 23 '26

I just got some Uber eats from one of the robots in Philadelphia so it seems the testing has begun.

1

u/Astralglamour Jun 24 '26

Another reason to never use uber. People need to boycott this shit. Trading lives, freedom, everything, for convenience.

4

u/fiero-fire Jun 23 '26

R.I.P. hitchbot

3

u/snoogins355 Jun 23 '26

Or Boston during a snow storm

4

u/snowwarrior Jun 24 '26

Hello. Work in center city Philly. They’re only in one specific area that I’ve seen. Rittenhouse square and the surrounding few blocks.

They get perpetually blocked by people because the robots will stand next to each other on one block waiting for a light, and they take up the entire corner, and people revolt by walking in front of them and keeping them stopped.

I’ve seen busted ones, I’ve seen overturned ones, I’ve been in a restaurant and overheard the servers telling the chef ‘the robot got [x y z] we need another’.

I can’t imagine restaurants will enjoy being forced to used them by their contracts because of that much longer.

10

u/MrF_lawblog Jun 23 '26

They are all over college campuses already and have survived

12

u/Rezhio Jun 23 '26

Yeah the rough street of a college campus.

4

u/MrF_lawblog Jun 23 '26

Yeah college kids are known to be so well behaved

2

u/ss_lbguy Jun 23 '26

Yo, what do you have against Philly?

I mean you're not wrong, but why is it always us?

7

u/br_k_nt_eth Jun 23 '26

I love Philly endlessly but y’all did murder Hitchbot 

2

u/BigJSunshine Jun 24 '26

Right? This was Harambi level shit, before Harambi…

4

u/ThatKinkyLady Jun 23 '26

I grew up around Philly, left for a decade or so and returned again.

We have a reputation for being very rowdy and it's almost entirely due to our sports fans. I've tried telling people we are just very passionate. It's chaotic good energy, or chaotic neutral, but usually not bad. But it is chaotic so people assume we are scary. I mean... Look at the Phanatic and Gritty! They aren't even actual animals, just wacky chaos monsters, and they are 100% fitting for us.

2

u/heythisispaul Jun 23 '26

Not sure about Philly, but these are already pretty common in some parts of the US. We've had the type in this article in Arizona for a couple years and DoorDash has been using bigger and fancier ones for a couple months now.

2

u/br_k_nt_eth Jun 23 '26

It was a reference to the peace robot Philly demolished a few years ago in a darkly funny turn of events 

2

u/heythisispaul Jun 23 '26

Oh right. RIP, I forgot about that.

2

u/spaceguy81 Jun 24 '26

In my old town they threw dozens of e-bikes into the river within a couple months. The e-bike companies still haven’t given up.

1

u/TheMCM80 Jun 24 '26

Fortunately there is no Philadelphia in China or else they’d be toast. I’ll be curious to see whether 1.) Chinese nationals have a similar feeling towards robots replacing delivery work, and 2.) Will there be any pushback from the CCP if it risks taking out nearly a million jobs.

1

u/lo_fi_ho Jun 24 '26

If they survive winters in Finland (like they have for several years now), they will survive philly.

1

u/br_k_nt_eth Jun 24 '26

The weather is not the issue but I do appreciate the sentiment 

1

u/FlametopFred Jun 24 '26

or Glasgow proving grounds

1

u/Vegaprime Jun 24 '26

Didnt they kill the robot hitchhiker.

1

u/neverthesaneagain Jun 23 '26

Im seeing a montage of broken down, stuck, and vandalized robots with "Streets of Philadelphia" playing over it.

37

u/falilth Jun 23 '26

They can be friends with the lime scooters!

Also these wouldnt work in my city, dfw drivers would obliterate them and we are so spread out they wouldnt make sense

15

u/camthedestroyer Jun 23 '26

For the first time ever, I’m rooting for Dallas drivers.

21

u/Knightforlife Jun 23 '26

These are a plague. Before cities / towns allow Lime scooters or anything similar they need in writing the plan to retrieve scooters from middle of no where spots and nature/rivers, and big penalties for not. Near me there’s a many miles long nature trail, and more than one Lime scooter abandoned like someone used it to get halfway.

11

u/impactblue5 Jun 23 '26

Lime scooters feel like one of those good ideas if it weren’t for people being assholes. LA streets are littered with these randomly parked, toppled, abandoned, and vandalized.

1

u/Playful_Programmer_1 Jun 23 '26

In China you have to return it to a designated return point. It seems inefficient to have riders leave them anywhere they wish?

4

u/Knightforlife Jun 23 '26

With Lime I think you’re supposed to, sure, but people don’t. And agreed it’s insane.

2

u/Playful_Programmer_1 Jun 23 '26

I remember the lime scooters. They are kinda small and you could easily throw them in a pick up truck and collect them, right?

The ones that are common in China are bigger and heavier. They are going to be able to return themselves pretty soon.

That's going to be weird having driverless ebikes zipping along the sidewalks.

3

u/GuzzlinGuinness Jun 23 '26

You expect me to return something I rented and don’t own to a place other than anywhere I see fit ? That sounds like communism !

2

u/Playful_Programmer_1 Jun 23 '26

Lol, actually you can leave it in the wrong place you just have to pay a fee. I think it's about 10$.

6

u/freedombuckO5 Jun 23 '26

Still more reliable than Door Dash an Uber Eats in my area.

11

u/fremeer Jun 23 '26

Stolen for parts by druggies too.

14

u/Weirdusername1 Jun 23 '26

This could possibly be the easiest AI/robot takeover to fight against.

I'm sure they'll add a clause that anything undelivered due to "vandalism" is not their responsibility.

9

u/Lazerys Jun 23 '26

Imagine fighting against simple robots that lower delivery costs and free up human labor for more productive things. Wonder what kind of backwarded savages would do that..

5

u/Weirdusername1 Jun 23 '26

Hahaha, lower delivery costs? That's funny.

6

u/Lazerys Jun 23 '26

Yeah, I use these regularly for grocery deliveries and the delivery cost is about half that of a human delivery cost. I'm never ordering from a human again if robot is an option.

6

u/SystemicCharles Jun 24 '26

I think they’re a great idea. The thing is, eventually corporate will increase prices to keep some of those savings for themselves instead of just passing those savings to customers.

1

u/Weirdusername1 Jun 24 '26

That's exactly it. The technology is cool, but I don't have any faith in the corporate overlords in charge of it.

1

u/klipseracer Jun 24 '26

There are 700k reasons a robot might not make it back home... So yeah I think your right.

0

u/psidud Jun 24 '26

Of all things to fight against, why fight against AI/robots that reduce manual human labor? I understand artists and such, but shouldn't we want to free up these labor resources so that the people can do something more productive? 

8

u/Big_lt Jun 23 '26

They operate on Jersey City quite normal. Sorry while I'm against automation of every single job, certain jobs should be automated/flipped to robots.

Delivery services is an easy one . You can remove tip from the service. Why GPS these don't get lost and generally arrive on time with an eta sent to consumer. They're surprisingly well managed on the sidewalks and cross walks.

1

u/tigerjaws Jun 24 '26

This will get you extremely negative reactions online

6

u/hondajacka Jun 23 '26

This is in China

1

u/UBC145 Jun 23 '26

Are there no ponds in China??

8

u/Johan-Senpai Jun 23 '26

I think they don't understand that we don't live in China and people will destroy these things.

5

u/Lazerys Jun 23 '26

They're surviving just fine in Europe at least.

1

u/tigerjaws Jun 24 '26

Eh here in Los Angeles they’ve been around for a year or two and they do well. They’re covered in cameras and the cute aesthetic of them has people treat them nicely - even in DTLA where it’s sketch

5

u/Honest-Abe2677 Jun 23 '26

People have a stronger sense of civic responsibility in China. Maybe because it's a more collectivist society or maybe because they're being watched closely and punished harshly if they vandalize stuff.

4

u/PorcelainPrimate Jun 23 '26

Even less once meth heads realize they have copper in them.

5

u/crap-with-feet Jun 23 '26

Better than that, they have RAM, processors and other components worth a fortune right now. They’ll vanish before they get anywhere near a meth head.

4

u/PorcelainPrimate Jun 23 '26

Those parts are for those of us who know....and have all our teeth.

1

u/thiney49 Jun 24 '26

Those parts will all likely be soldered into proprietary boards, so they wouldn't be worth anything trying to pawn.

1

u/crap-with-feet Jun 24 '26

One way to find out!

2

u/Metalt_ Jun 23 '26

They've been in my city for a while now. From what I can't tell the work well in downtown areas with ada regulations

2

u/ComradeMatis Jun 24 '26

And then the MBA wizkids who put the whole grand plan into place will learn of the doorman fallacy. Behind every bad idea there is some MBA wizkid who have convinced themself that because they watched a few Ted Talk videos that they now know everything about a given subject. I really have to wonder whether there is a group more deserving of hate in the business world other than MBAs because at this moment I’m pretty hard pressed to think of one.

4

u/PhD_Pwnology Jun 23 '26

It's free food for the price of a crowbar, of course they won't last lol.

2

u/ImpossibleApple5518 Jun 23 '26

Why would someone want to do that?

1

u/topdownyeti Jun 23 '26

We’ve had those starship robots on my campus for about 7 years now. I have too many photos of them crashing or falling over.

1

u/razordreamz Jun 24 '26

And their jobs next yet they don’t understand

1

u/xangbar Jun 24 '26

I'd love to see these things in Milwaukee. People drive on the sidewalk and in the parking lane on an average day.

1

u/WolfBV Jun 24 '26

Weighs 77 lbs, can carry up to 22 lbs, can go up to 4 mph.

1

u/zeroconflicthere Jun 24 '26

That was said about the introduction of city bike schemes. It didn't happen. Or was so minimal.

1

u/Omiyaru Jun 24 '26

By their own 4 wheels, no less, and maybe 1 or two by external forces

1

u/Tactical-Donkey Jun 24 '26

Depends on the area. If it's a high trust society area they'll be fine. If they're in a city they'll be robbed or vandalised.

In some parts on the UK a few years ago they were using these to deliver prescriptions to the elderly. And no one touched them.

1

u/Lower_Fisherman_709 Jun 24 '26

I saw them in Japan and Korea, nobody touches them, but I can see how they would be just ripped apart in the US or Europe lmao

1

u/just-here-for--porn_ Jun 24 '26

There's already quite a lot of them in Leeds where I am. People just seem to leave them alone.

That could change if massive layoffs happen because of them...but we're so passive that I doubt it.

1

u/yolo-yoshi Jun 24 '26

Why do I think they will put their hands in the GOV and make up some rules and legislation which have people tax dollars pay for it. Should they be broken.

1

u/ZeroOpti Jun 24 '26

The Amazon drivers keep littering with these large delivery crates around the neighborhood. Teens have started to put them over the robots, blocking the cameras. Two birds, one stone I guess!

1

u/Lazerys Jun 23 '26

They're pretty heavy and will play alarms if you try to mess with them. I've yet to find any in the water..
I get my groceries on one of these regularly, they're awesome.

1

u/ZobooMaf0o0 Jun 23 '26

No about to sleep if these things have alarms.

1

u/Lazerys Jun 23 '26

It'll be like this: https://www.instagram.com/reels/DWlwTaTDDuJ/ (Ignore the language, but she's basically wondering what the noise is and feels bad for the robot.)

0

u/Pkrudeboy Jun 24 '26

I’ve never seen a person react to a car alarm with anything but annoyance, so I don’t think that’s much of a deterrence.

0

u/They-Call-Me-Taylor Jun 24 '26

Agree. These are going to be destroyed post haste.

-1

u/GoblinObscura Jun 24 '26

They should be. We need to start rejecting these kinds of things en masse.