Amazon acquires Fauna Robotics to enter consumer humanoid market with 42-inch home robot called Sprout

Amazon acquired New York-based Fauna Robotics, whose 42-inch humanoid robot Sprout can walk, grip objects, hold conversations, and perform household tasks like fetching items from the pantry, with Fauna's roughly 50 employees joining Amazon's Personal Robotics Group. The acquisition price was not disclosed, but Fauna had raised at least $30M from Kleiner Perkins, Quiet Capital, and Lux Capital, and co-founders Rob Cochran and Josh Merel will join Amazon as the startup continues deploying Sprout to outside researchers. The deal marks Amazon's first move into the consumer humanoid market, distinct from its existing warehouse and fulfillment robotics, and puts it in competition with Tesla Optimus, Figure AI, Boston Dynamics, and humanoid projects in development at Meta, Apple, and Google.