Amazon will be using 10,000 robots in its warehouses by the end of the year, according to the man who runs the company. CEO Jeff Bezos told investors at a shareholder meeting Wednesday that he expects to exponentially increase the number of robots used to fulfill customer orders. There are currently about 1,000 robot workers on Amazon floors. Associated Press reports that Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer,says last year it hired more than 20,000 people at its fulfillment centers, with more than half starting out as seasonal workers, and is looking to hire another 2,500 full-time workers for its order fulfillment centers around the US, adding to the Seattle-based company’s already 117,300 full-time and part-time employees at the end of 2013.


The robots are made by Kiva Systems bought for $775 million two years ago. According to an earlier CNN article, a warehouse setup with 1,000 robots can cost $20 million. They are tied into a complex grid that requires months of planning and testing. But once the system is in place, it can save time and cut down on fulfillment costs.