Humanoid robot race welcomes another giant: Amazon quietly acquires Fauna, directly competing with Tesla.

TechNews APP has learned that Amazon (AMZN.US) confirmed on Tuesday that it has acquired startup Fauna Robotics, a company dedicated to creating affordable humanoid robots for consumers and businesses. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

An Amazon spokesperson stated in a release: “We are excited about Fauna’s vision to build capable, safe, and fun robots for everyone. Combining Amazon’s expertise in robotics with our decades of experience in retail and device businesses in earning the trust of household users, we look forward to inventing new ways to make customers’ lives better and more convenient.”

Fauna Robotics was founded in 2024 by former engineers from Meta and Google. Earlier this year, the New York-based company launched a bipedal robot called Sprout, priced at $50,000, standing about 3 feet 6 inches (approximately 1.07 meters) tall, weighing 50 pounds (about 22.7 kilograms). Its design philosophy is “affordable and user-friendly,” while also being “truly easy to use” for software developers.

At the time, the company announced signed early customers including Disney and Boston Dynamics, a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor.

Fauna stated that approximately 50 of its employees will join Amazon’s team in New York. Fauna co-founder and CEO Rob Cockerill posted on LinkedIn expressing his excitement about joining Amazon.

Cockerill wrote, “We are thrilled about what joining Amazon means for our future. Moving forward, we will continue to operate under the name Fauna Robotics, a part of Amazon.”

Amazon has invested in robotics for over a decade, primarily for warehouse operations. In 2012, Amazon acquired Kiva Systems for $775 million, laying the foundation for its warehouse automation-focused Amazon Robotics division.

Now, Amazon is further strengthening its robotics capabilities through acquisitions. Last week, Amazon announced the acquisition of Swiss robotics company Rivr, which focuses on developing robots for “doorstep delivery.”

Amazon stated that it hopes to leverage its robotics expertise and long-standing experience in retail and devices to better explore the potential of personal robots, making customers’ lives more enjoyable and convenient.

Amazon previously experimented with home robots. In 2021, it launched Astro, a low-profile mobile personal robot priced at $1,600, but the device was only available through invitation.

By acquiring Fauna, Amazon is entering the increasingly crowded humanoid robot market. Tesla is developing a humanoid robot called Optimus and plans to produce it at its Fremont, California factory.

In January this year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the company would convert some of the existing production lines for the Model S and Model X into “Optimus factories,” aiming to produce 1 million units annually.

Other competitors in the humanoid robot space include California-based 1X, Figure AI, Apptronik, Agility Robotics, and China’s Yushu Technology.