Amazon buys Fauna Robotics, maker of the Sprout humanoid robot

NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon has acquired Fauna Robotics, just under two months after the startup introduced a humanoid robot called Sprout designed to be a friendly addition to social spaces like homes and schools.

The e-commerce giant is already a robotics powerhouse, having boasted of deploying more than 1 million robots across its warehouse operations, but bringing the 3.5-foot-tall, rectangular-headed Sprout on board adds a robot that’s more about fun interactions than heavy lifting.