Amazon has unveiled two new artificial intelligence–driven systems—Blue Jay and Project Eluna—that the company says will make its fulfillment centers safer and more efficient as it ramps up operations for the holiday season.
The announcement marks a significant expansion of the company’s use of what it calls “physical AI”—technology that learns from contact, coordinates at scale, and supports people in real-world environments.
“Our latest innovations are great examples of how we’re using AI and robotics to create an even better experience for our employees and customers,” says Tye Brady, chief technologist for Amazon Robotics. “The goal is to make technology the most practical, the most powerful tool it can be—so that work becomes safer, smarter, and more rewarding.”
Blue Jay: Robotics That Coordinate Like an Orchestra
Blue Jay is a new coordinated robotics system that uses multiple robotic arms to perform several tasks—picking, stowing, and consolidating—in a single workspace. According to Amazon, the system effectively collapses three robotic stations into one, freeing up floor space and improving throughput.
In internal testing at an Amazon fulfillment center in South Carolina, Blue Jay is already capable of handling about 75 % of the product types stored at the site. The company says development of Blue Jay took just over one year from concept to production—far faster than previous systems such as Robin, Cardinal, and Sparrow—thanks to AI-powered digital twins, which allowed engineers to simulate and refine designs virtually.
Amazon describes Blue Jay as a kind of “juggler who never drops a ball” or “a conductor leading an orchestra,” coordinating every motion in harmony to move thousands of items at high speed. The robot’s design keeps employees working within their ergonomic “power zone,” minimizing repetitive reaching and lifting and reducing the risk of strain injuries.
Project Eluna: An Agentic AI Model for Operations
If Blue Jay reimagines the physical side of fulfillment, Project Eluna tackles the cognitive. Amazon calls it an agentic AI model system capable of reasoning through complex operational situations and suggesting data-backed actions to operators.
In pilot testing at a fulfillment center in Tennessee, Project Eluna assists managers with sortation optimization, helping anticipate bottlenecks and reallocate labor before problems arise. Instead of monitoring dozens of dashboards, operators can ask questions in plain language—such as “Where should we shift people to avoid a bottleneck?”—and receive clear recommendations supported by real-time data.
Amazon says the system is designed to reduce the cognitive load of operations management, allowing leaders to “spend more time coaching teams rather than chasing data.”
Building on Amazon’s AI and Robotics Stack
Blue Jay and Project Eluna build on a growing suite of Amazon innovations, including Vulcan, a robot equipped with a sense of touch to assist with ergonomically challenging tasks, and DeepFleet, an AI foundation model that coordinates fleets of mobile robots across facilities.
Together, these systems extend Amazon’s approach to AI-augmented work—where automation enhances, rather than replaces, human roles. The company also highlighted ongoing education programs such as Career Choice and new AI learning pathways that train employees to work effectively with advanced technologies.
“Every time we innovate across Amazon’s operations network, we start with a simple question: ‘How can we make work safer, smarter, and more rewarding for our employees?’” the company wrote in its official announcement.
Why It Matters
Amazon is hiring 250,000 seasonal employees this year. As AI continues to transform logistics, Blue Jay and Project Eluna show how the company aims to blend automation with human oversights speeding up fulfillment while maintaining safety and career growth opportunities, Amazon said.
For Amazon, the systems also serve a strategic purpose: streamlining operations ahead of peak season while highlighting leadership in agentic AI, a frontier where intelligent systems act autonomously to support human decision-making.
By merging robotics and reasoning AI, Amazon is signaling a future where warehouse automation and human expertise work side by side—a model the company says is “not about replacing people but empowering them.”
