Amazon "Pivots and Reimagines" Its Scout Autonomous Home Delivery Robot Team

Updated October 12: Following our story about the Scout team being disbanded, Amazon chimed in to tell us that this is not entirely accurate and that the team is, in fact, being “pivoted and reimagined.” We’ve altered the title to reflect this.

“Amazon is not pulling the plug on the Scout program, we are pivoting and reimagining it and still have a team dedicated to Scout,” Amazon spokesperson Alisa Carroll told us.

Original story:

If you’re unfamiliar with the Scout delivery robots, they are cooler-sized bots driving autonomously on six wheels at a walking pace. The slow-moving machines, which moved along the sidewalks, would stop at the front door and open their lids to allow customers to pick up the package. Although the robot would move autonomously, the program still required human presence to ensure nothing went wrong along the way.

Amazon started testing the fully-electric Scout in 2019 in Washington and later expanded to Southern California, Georgia, and Tennessee. The pandemic restriction gave the program a needed boost, and Amazon said that Scout would allow it to continue deliveries in the face of COVID lockdowns. Cutting the greenhouse gas emissions associated with delivery operations was another benefit.

According to Bloomberg, work on Scout has already been halted, and the team was disbanded. About 400 people were working on the project globally, and Amazon spokesperson Alisa Carroll said they were offered new positions within the company. Remarkably, Sean Scott, the vice president who oversaw the robot’s program, left the company in 2021.

“During our Scout limited field test, we worked to create a unique delivery experience but learned through feedback that there were aspects of the program that weren’t meeting customers’ needs,” Carroll said. “As a result, we are ending our field tests and reorienting the program. We are working with employees during this transition, matching them to open roles that best fit their experience and skills.”

Although “reorienting” doesn’t equal killing the robot altogether, this marks a significant blow to the program. The decision comes amid continued efforts to adapt to slower sales growth and a hostile market. This meant delaying some investments and abandoning others. This direction goes against the Amazon culture, which allowed it to pursue wild experiments in the past, including using drones for deliveries.

Scout is not the only program axed at Amazon lately. Amazon Glow, a kids-focused video calling device, was also discontinued. Amazon Care, its startup telehealth service, is also shutting down by the end of the year.