Amazon Buys Robot Maker RIVR to Win Last-Mile Delivery Race

Amazon has acquired RIVR, a company that uses physical artificial intelligence and wheeled-legged robots to automate doorstep delivery.

RIVR CEO and Co-Founder Marko Bjelonic announced the acquisition in a Thursday (March 19) post on LinkedIn, and several media reports said an Amazon spokesperson confirmed the deal.

“This step will accelerate our vision of building General Physical AI through doorstep delivery, bringing robotics and AI closer to real-world deployment at scale,” Bjelonic said in his post.

Bjelonic added: “I’m incredibly proud of what RIVR built, and even more excited about what we will accomplish next at Amazon.”

The Information reported Thursday that an Amazon spokesperson confirmed that Amazon acquired RIVR.

RIVR is based in Switzerland and was formerly known as Swiss-Mile, according to the report.

CNBC reported Thursday that Amazon confirmed the acquisition of RIVR and that the company made the purchase this week but didn’t publicize it.

An Amazon spokesperson told CNBC that the move “reflects our commitment to a continued investment in research” and efforts to improve safety for the company’s delivery personnel, per the report.

PYMNTS reported in August 2024, when RIVR was known as Swiss-Mile, that Swiss-Mile raised $22 million in a seed round and that the investors included Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund and Bezos Expeditions.

The company now known as RIVR was incorporated in 2023. It said in an August 2024 press release that it developed wheel-legged robots with autonomy that’s driven by AI and that in its first year it “achieved early successes with pilot deployments among key customers, including last-mile delivery in smart cities and security for critical infrastructure.”

The company rebranded to RIVR in March 2025 as it prepared to launch field testing of its delivery robots in partnership with major logistics carriers.

RIVR said in a May 2025 press release that it launched in the United States through a partnership with alternative parcel delivery platform Veho. It said the companies had already introduced RIVR’s wheel-legged robots in Austin, where they would deliver eCommerce parcels.

“With the exponential rise in eCommerce, the last mile has become the most critical — and complex — link in the logistics chain,” Bjelonic said in the release.

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