Amazon withdraws Astro patrol robot from sale

Using artificial intelligence for commercial purposes is becoming increasingly challenging. A fresh example is an internal email from Amazon Devices Vice President Lindo St. Angel, who informed employees about the closure of the Astro for Business project. Instead of making overpriced robot patrols, the company’s management has decided to focus on making home robots.

According to GeekWire, Amazon has already sent out letters to all customers of the robots warning them that they will simply stop working on August 25. This means a complete failure of the project, which was prepared for years but ended up working for only nine months. Money will be refunded to everyone, including the additional costs of training the robots, creating terrain maps and programming patrol routes.

How many Astro robots were realized is classified information. They were distributed only by personal invitation. It is known that one copy is valued at $2350, which could be a stumbling block – buyers did not appreciate the benefits at such costs. On the other hand, there are rumors about the “illogical” use of AI in these devices, which forced Amazon to abandon this project.

According to one version from the media, Amazon decided to get rid of the AI unit altogether, as the most resource-intensive and expensive part of the robot. But in this case, it is unclear how their home model will stand out from the competition. According to another version, the AI will still remain, as it is all about it. In the format of the robot-patroller, this system studied the environment and memorized all the features, including who and what left where and what moved in the room. A home robot would do the same, plus voice its observations to help the household. But how much do they need it?