Amazon’s head of worldwide customer service, Jeff Wilke, unveiled his latest delivery drone at the MARS conference in Las Vegas on June 5, 2019.
Amazon
Amazon is not planning to host its next MARS conference on cutting-edge technologies such as robotics and space this year, the company confirmed on Friday. It introduces the topics into the existing line of Amazon Web Services events.
The tech giant launched re:MARS, which stands for “Machine Learning, Automation, Robotics, and Space,” in 2019 as a way for startups, academics, researchers, and operators to discuss the latest developments. up-to-date in these technologies. It emerged from a private, invite-only version of the event, called Mars, which attracted the tech elite and was hosted by Amazon founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos.
The decision to cancel MARS was not made for budgetary reasons, Amazon said.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has been taking a hard look at costs across the company as he faces slower sales growth and a bleak economic outlook. The company has gone through the biggest layoffs in its history and Jassy has cut several initiatives, including the Amazon Care telehealth program, touring a “treasure truck,” a co- Glow children’s video speakers and Explore virtual tour service.
Amazon used re:MARS to showcase some of its futuristic innovations, such as delivery drones, warehouse robots, and its first home robot. Bezos also held talks on space colonization, and tested a pair of giant remote-controlled robotic hands. At last year’s conference, Amazon showed a feature where its digital assistant Alexa imitated a deceased relative.
An Amazon Web Services spokesperson told CNBC in a statement: “AWS hosts hundreds of thousands of customers and partners each year at hundreds of events around the world. These events provide a great opportunity to connect with our customers. Really the responsibility to make each event valuable for all attendees, whether it’s through developing new skills, identifying new solutions that change an organization, or building new connections which can promote a career. 2023, has decided to re: incorporate MARS topics – machine learning, automation, robotics, and space – into a range of well-funded AWS events.”
