Amazon unveils next-gen Proteus robot as part of €10 billion European investment in its fulfillment network

Amazon has introduced the next-generation Proteus at its Delivering the Future event in London. The new technology builds on the original autonomous robot and expands what’s possible in scope, capability, and how it can assist employees with their daily tasks.

Employees will now be able to direct Proteus in the same way they’d communicate with a colleague—using plain, conversational language, with no technical commands and no programming interface. An employee tells it what needs to be done, and the robot takes care of the rest.

Like its predecessor, this Proteus is designed to take on physically demanding tasks—moving heavy carts and covering long distances—so employees can focus on higher-skilled work like managing inventory flow and ensuring quality control.

These new technologies are part of Amazon’s plans to invest over €10 billion over the next few years to expand and modernize its fulfillment operations in Europe. This also includes the expansion of Vulcan, Amazon’s first robot with a sense of touch.

As part of this investment, Amazon plans to grow its European fulfillment center workforce by 25,000 in the coming years, creating new jobs across the region.

How does the new Proteus work?

The original Proteus operates in dock areas within fulfillment centers, navigating safely around people and transporting heavy carts that can weigh close to 400 kilograms—work that requires employees to push carts, lift heavy items, and cover long distances during a shift. It’s currently deployed at 25 fulfillment centers in the United States.

The next generation of Proteus is designed to go much further. Rather than operating only in dock areas, the new system can work anywhere items need to be moved. This includes transporting containers as they arrive at a site, transferring them between workstations, and assisting employees across Amazon’s fulfillment centers and delivery sites.

There is also a major shift in how employees interact with it. Using advances in AI, the next generation of Proteus is designed to understand natural language. That means employees can assign it tasks the way they’d communicate with a colleague.

“You tell it what needs to be done. It figures out the priority, the route, the timing,” said Scott Dresser, vice president of Amazon Robotics. “It becomes your assistant for material movement.”

The system is designed to handle the heavy lifting and help support site safety. It’s currently being piloted in Amazon’s labs, with deployment in Europe planned for the first half of 2027.