The race for Humanoid robots has just gained a new major participant and this time it is not a startup, nor a research laboratory, it is Amazon, the technology giant acquired Fauna Robotics, a company specialized in the development of humanoid robots with a completely different proposal from what is normally seen in this sector.

Instead of rigid industrial metal machines, fauna developed a robot called Sprout, a move closer to the human environment. At approximately 1 m tall and just over 20 kg, the Sprout was designed to operate in shared spaces with a soft, foam-like body and systems that prioritize safety and interaction.

This type of design is not just aesthetic, it completely changes the way the robot can be used because it allows direct interaction with people, even in domestic environments, without the risk associated with rigid and heavy structures, and that reveals something important about Amazon's strategy. Until now, the company had focused heavily on logistics automation, especially within its distribution centers with aggressive large-scale automation goals.

But in the domestic market its initiatives were still limited, now with the acquisition of Fauna, the focus begins to change, the idea stops being only to automate internal processes and begins to explore the potential of humanoid robots aimed directly at the consumer. Amazon has been investing in the development of artificial intelligence applied to robotics, especially through its internal teams focused on generalist systems, but something essential was missing, the body.

With Fauna, the company now has access to an already developed physical platform, equipped with interaction systems, object manipulation and learning capacity over time, except that bringing theft into the home is just one part of the equation, because there are many scenarios where these machines need to operate in much more demanding conditions, where error is not an option.