'Bezos sees a future where packages will be delivered by self-driving vans, small bots rolling through neighborhoods and drones buzzing to their destinations.'
magazine reporter Brian Dumaine examines how Bezos used technology to disrupt business models and consumer behavior. In this excerpt, Dumaine discusses the future of the last-mile of deliveries and its implications for helping contain costs, delivery time—and even viruses by reducing the need for humans to get the job done.
While it's too late for this round of the virus, Amazon and others have been working on a technology that could help contain future epidemics. Amazon's founder and CEO Jeff Bezos has jumped headlong into the autonomous vehicle race. Bezos sees a future where packages will be delivered by self-driving vans, small bots rolling through neighborhoods and drones buzzing to their destinations. And they will be unstoppable because robots don't catch the flu.
In early 2019, Amazon led a $700 million investment round in Rivian, a Michigan company that is developing a battery-powered pickup truck and a sport utility vehicle. Ford later that year invested another $500 million in the company.
The basic concept is that a customer uses a smart app to request a delivery for a certain window of time. Much as Uber does, the app can track the location of the vehicle as it makes its way toward its destination. When the van rolls up to the home, it texts the customer a code and a notice that the package—whether it is groceries, dry cleaning or prescription drugs—has arrived.
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