Amazon began testing the Scouts robot in 2019. Scouts delivered orders in Washington, then to California, Georgia, and Tennessee. This robot autonomously follows the delivery route. It works so that Scout stops at a customer’s home, then opens the lid on top so people can pick up the package.

The main task of this robot was to deliver the order from local distribution centers to customers’ doors. Now Amazon is scaling back its plans for the Scout delivery robot.

Why did Amazon stop testing the robot?

The company said it’s discontinuing trials of its Scout delivery robot. Along with that, it said it’s refocusing the program. No further statements about Scouts were said. So this means that the project isn’t completely shut down, but the Scout team, which has about 400 employees worldwide, is being disbanded.

Amazon spokeswoman Alyssa Carroll said that Scouts didn’t meet customer needs. The reason the robots can’t get around ladders, she said. So the company is still testing drone delivery in California as part of its Prime Air program.