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(Sharecast News) - Amazon announced on Thursday that it plans to invest 10bn to expand and upgrade its fulfilment centres across Europe with next-gen robotics while creating 25,000 more jobs over the coming years.
The investment forms part of the ecommerce titan's expansion of ultra-fast delivery options to cities across the continent, as it widens the use of AI and robotics in its warehouses.
Central to Amazon's plans is the autonomous Proteus robot, which can operate anywhere across fulfilment sites to move items such as heavy carts, not just in dock areas, and can be directed by employees using conversational text-based prompts.
"An employee tells it what needs to be done, and the robot figures out the priority, the route, and the timing," the company said in a statement.
Other innovations include Vulcan, Amazon's first robot with a sense of touch, which uses sensors to pick and stow items, and the STARK robotic system, which picks totes from conveyors and places them on carts.
Amazon, which employs 230,000 people across Europe and works with a further 400,000 more as contractors and seasonal employees, said it invested 60bn in the region in 2025 alone.
"These investments reflect Amazon's broader push to use AI and robotics to support its workforce by taking on repetitive and physically demanding tasks so employees can focus on higher-skilled roles while customers get their orders faster," the firm said.
Amazon.com futures were up 1.1% at $252.75 in pre-market trading on Wall Street.
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