Amazon is staffing up several new teams to go big in cloud and distribution tech (AMZN)

pulse

August 2, 2017 12:19 AM

The company is trying to recruit engineers for a new team based in San Diego, and is also creating other new efforts in cloud computing.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

* Amazon also starting "autonomous robot" program

* New efforts highlight Amazon's growing ambitions

This project appears to be in the early stages, as the founding member will help craft the team's vision and have a large influence on the greater AWS marketplace strategy, according to a job listing.

Amazon’s Supply Chain Optimization is an existing part of Amazon's operations. The group develops technology such as forward-looking algorithms that anticipate which items will be in high demand during a certain time period, as well as how to distribute these items geographically. The goal is to get products to customers as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Amazon is also starting a new autonomous robot program in its worldwide operations group. While this may raise speculative eyebrows, it's the least surprising of all three job openings. Amazon is known for using robotics in its warehouses, and even runs a separate website for its Amazon Robotics program — known as Kiva Systems until its acquisition by Amazon for

While mysterious job openings shed some light on what the $479 billion company has in the works, it's not rare for Amazon to launch new services.

In Q2 earnings, CEO Jeff Bezos said that that company hired 30,000 new employees and launched over 400 significant AWS features and services over the quarter.

Amazon employees 382,400 people, according to its Q2 earnings. That's a 42% increase from the year before.

Amazon did not respond to requests for comment.

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