Amazon takes packing robot Blue Jay out of service after a few months

Amazon's warehouse robot Blue Jay was not destined for a long life: After less than half a year, the online retailer has taken the robot out of service again. Blue Jay is a multi-armed robot system that packs packages for speedy delivery.

It is controlled by physical artificial intelligence (AI). Amazon described it at the start of its deployment as "a technology that learns from interactions, coordinates at scale, and supports people in the real world," Amazon described it at the start of its deployment. Blue Jay works like a juggler who never drops a ball, except that the robot handles a variety of objects moving at high speed.

Out of service again after four months

That was at the end of October 2025. But after only four months, Blue Jay had juggled its last: Amazon decommissioned the robot at the end of January, reported the online news provider Business Insider. An Amazon spokesperson confirmed this to the US online magazine Techcrunch. According to the report, Blue Jay was merely a prototype. Development took only one year.

There were several reasons for the decommissioning, Business Insider learned from sources familiar with the project. According to them, manufacturing was considered too complex. There were problems during operation. Finally, the costs were very high.

"We’re always experimenting with new ways to improve the customer experience and make work safer, more efficient, and more engaging for our employees," said the Amazon spokesperson to Techcrunch.

However, even if Blue Jay itself is dismantled again, the technology developed for it is to be further developed and used in other projects. "In this case, we are actually accelerating the deployment of the foundational technology developed for Blue Jay, and almost all the technologies will be adopted and continue to support employees across our network," said the Amazon spokesperson.

(wpl)