Amazon has over 45,000 robots across its Warehouses

Amazon significantly expanded its army of warehouse robots over the course of 2016, according to a report by The Seattle Times.

The newspaper - based in the same city as Amazon's global headquarters - wrote last week that the ecommerce giant now has 45,000 robots across 20 fulfillment centres.

Amazon bought a robotics company called Kiva Systems in 2012 for $775 million (£632 million). Kiva's robots automate the picking and packing process at large warehouses in a way that stands to help Amazon become more efficient. The robots - 16 inches tall and almost 145kg - can run at 5mph and haul packages weighing up to 317kg.

At the end of 2014, Amazon said it had 15,000 robots operating across 10 warehouses. In 2015, that number rose to 30,000 and now Amazon has 45,000. Beyond the warehouse, Amazon is also looking at automating other aspects of its business.

Source: Inputs from AmazonRobotics, Business Insider, The Seattle Times.