When Jeff Bezos attended a private robotics and artificial intelligence event in Palm Springs, Calif., in 2018, one presentation in particular caught the attention of the Amazon founder. It was a demonstration conducted by a frizzy-haired University of California, Berkeley, professor named Ken Goldberg, showing off a robot that could deftly pick up random items from a bucket.
Amazon later made a move to obtain the technology, which could have far-reaching implications for human labor in warehouses. Amazon approached Goldberg’s Ambi Robotics to possibly acquire the startup, according to a person familiar with the situation. Ambi rebuffed Amazon, this person said.
