Ex-Amazon warehouse automation lead: Anthropic's robot cost linear projections are naive
BradPorter_ · x · 2026-10-01
Brad Porter, who studied every Amazon warehouse job for automation opportunities, critiques Anthropic's robotics economics report for linear cost projections. Steel doesn't get cheaper; batteries and sensors fall slowly absent tech leaps. Hence autonomous vehicles are becoming cost-effective (falling sensor costs, improving AI) while air taxis remain far off (material strength-to-weight and battery energy density barely move). Real cost drops come from invention and AI breakthroughs in sensing, perception, and manipulation.
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