Amazon is developing a project to build highly automated delivery stations, which serve as the final facilities in the shipping process before packages reach customers. An internal planning document from July 2026, reviewed by Business Insider, identifies the initiative as "Project Tetromino." The project aims to use artificial intelligence and robotics to automate the sorting and staging of packages, tasks that have historically been difficult to automate.
The internal document outlined a plan to invest $103 million in an initial pilot program starting in 2028. This would be followed by five additional sites in 2029 and 10 more in 2030, with each 2029 site estimated to cost $85 million. According to these figures, the total investment would exceed $530 million by 2029. The document claimed the new design could process packages at approximately 2.5 times the rate of current delivery stations.
An Amazon spokesperson stated that the figures and roadmap in the document are "inaccurate" and do not reflect current plans, describing Tetromino as an "early-stage concept." The spokesperson said the company regularly evaluates many initiatives and that plans evolve as they learn. One technology mentioned in the planning document for this project is a system from the startup Boxbot, which moves packages from conveyors to trays and uses AI to sequence them for delivery. Boxbot claims its system can speed up vehicle loading by up to 10 times.
The scale of this automation involves moving from manual sorting to a system that processes items 2.5 times faster than existing stations. If implemented, this would change how packages move through the final leg of the supply chain, potentially impacting the speed of deliveries for customers and the workflows of drivers who receive staged packages. The Amazon spokesperson emphasized that these technologies are designed to "complement and empower" the workforce, rather than replace it, noting that employees remain central to operations.
The move follows a broader industry trend where logistics companies like FedEx, UPS, and DHL are also deploying AI-powered robots to load and unload trailers. Amazon itself reported in July 2026 that it expects to more than double its fleet of robotic arms during the 2026 calendar year. The next steps for Project Tetromino depend on the outcome of the company's evaluation process; the internal document suggests a pilot could begin as early as 2028, though Amazon maintains that the specific roadmap remains under development and subject to change.