Amazon has just acquired Fauna Robotics, which is developing “safe and fun robots for everyone".
Amazon has acquired Fauna Robotics, a startup founded in 2024 that released a children-sized humanoid robot called Sprout in January.
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Humanoid robots are built to look and move like the human body, and recent iterations of these robots use artificial intelligence (AI) models to process speech, adapt to new surroundings, and perform tasks.
Sprout, which is about a metre tall and padded in soft, green foam, is a venture into developing “approachable” robots for social spaces. While it may not be able to lift heavy objects, the robot can dance and wiggle its wiper-like eyebrows to interact with people.
“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," Fauna CEO Rob Cochran wrote on LinkedIn on Tuesday. “We are thrilled about what joining the Amazon team means for our future.”
Amazon is investing heavily in robotics and has deployed over one million robots across its warehouse operations.
The $50,000 ( around €43,000) Sprout was designed as a software developer platform, which can be used for research and creative projects, and sold to academic and corporate research laboratories exploring how robotics can be introduced to the home. Early customers included Disney.
Amazon said Fauna'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”. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Amazon has recently faced some challenges in expanding into consumer robotics. The e-commerce giant called off its acquisition of robot vacuum maker iRobot in 2024 amid scrutiny from regulators in the European Union.
