Amazon has acquired Rivr Technologies AG, a Swiss startup developing four-legged delivery robots.
Rivr’s flagship Rivr Two robot carries over 60 pounds of parcels or food at speeds up to 8.7 mph-twice walking pace. It navigates red lights, opens gates, climbs stairs, and includes collision-avoidance sensors and an emergency stop button.
Amazon plans to test the robots alongside third-party delivery drivers, enabling parallel drop-offs from a single van. The company says it’s in early stages but will gather real-world feedback before scaling.
Rivr’s AI training framework blends supervised and unsupervised learning, allowing rapid adaptation to new robot forms. Amazon may deploy this software across its warehouse robotics fleet-already exceeding 1 million units.
This move follows Amazon’s $1.2 billion Zoox acquisition in 2020, suggesting a long-term strategy toward fully autonomous delivery networks combining self-driving vans and sidewalk robots.