Amazon quietly acquired robotics company Dispatch to build Scout

When Amazon unveiled a six-wheeled urban delivery robot called Scout a couple of weeks ago, its website was pretty definitive about who was behind it. These devices were created by Amazon, the page reads. We developed Amazon Scout at our research and development lab in Seattle.
But that’s not the whole story. TechCrunch has discovered that Amazon stealthily acquired an urban delivery robot startup called Dispatch in 2017, bringing in both IP and talent from the company to the e-commerce giant.
Amazon has confirmed to TechCrunch that it acquired Dispatch. It would not provide further details. The Dispatch.AI website is still active - and press reports have even called its robot a rival to Scout - but the people behind Dispatch have actually been working for Amazon for well over a year.