Amazon’s expensive and not-so-intelligent Astro robot isn’t yet available to buy without an invitation, and now the executive who oversaw its development is leaving the company, Well-informed person reports.
Ken Washington, Amazon’s vice president of consumer robotics, is leaving the company to “seek an outside opportunity,” a said the spokesman GeekWire. She was less than two years in the company, and his last day is May 18.
Washington is part of Amazon’s Lab126 development team, and it’s not the company’s only recent major departure. The lab’s longtime president, Gregg Zehr, who oversaw the development of the Kindle, and Tom Taylor, a former senior vice president of Alexa at Amazon, have announced their retirement. the same day last august.
With Washington’s departure, his team will now be overseen by Amazon’s vice president of engineering, Lindo St. Angel. Last week, it was reported that Amazon is working on a new generative AI technology called Burnham, which could make Astro much smarter, or power an entirely new robot.
Previously, Washington worked for Ford as vice president of research and advanced engineering and later as chief technology officer. Washington had overseen the development of self-driving cars and research projects, including an experimental Digit bipedal robot that was intended for delivery and implemented into a self-driving car.
