Report: How Amazon plans to make Astro smarter

Photo: Amazon

Amazon is reportedly working on a secret AI robot project called Burnham, according to internal documents seen by Insider. Burnham would add intelligence and voice interaction to Astro, the company's smart home robot. Burnham would use large language models and other advanced AI to understand and respond to the context of a household. The documents say that Burnham would remember what it saw and understood and engage in Q&A dialogues and actions based on it.

For example, Burnham could alert the owner if it found a stove or a faucet left on. It could call emergency services if it saw someone fall and need help. It could help locate keys, check windows, and monitor kids’ activities. These are things that existing smart home devices can do, but they need multiple steps and devices. Astro with Burnham would do them with one device.

Amazon also wants to make its robots more proactive. For example, a robot could see broken glass and sweep it up before anyone gets hurt. Amazon calls this “Contextual Understanding” and says it is its most advanced AI technology to make robots smarter, more useful, and more conversational. It is like Rosie the Robot from The Jetsons but without arms.

But don’t expect to see Burnham in action soon. Amazon admits that it is far from ready to put the tech in a product. And you still can’t get Astro easily.

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