The Auto-C, powered by BrainOS, joins Walmart's technology ecosystem. (Photo: Brain Corp)
See How Well the GOP Tax Scam Is Creating Jobs? Walmart Announces Plans for 360 Robot Janitors
The company still faces calls to raise its minimum hourly pay, but machines don't ask for a living wage
Walmart announced Monday it will have 360 floor-cleaning robots in its stores by the end of January.
In a joint statement with developer Brain Corp, the retail giant said a Walmart worker would first ride the Zamboni-like machine to teach it the route; after that a push of the button would allow machine to take off on the route by itself.
"You see what happens when you all keep complaining about a living wage!?" commented one social media user. Another tweeted sarcastically, "Looks like Trump's corporate tax cuts are helping create jobs and increase wages!"
As Bloomberg reported,
Walmart has already been experimenting with automating the scanning of shelves for out-of-stock items and hauling products from storage for online orders. Advances in computer vision are also making it possible to use retail floor data to better understand consumer behavior, improve inventory tracking and even do away with checkout counters, as Amazon.com Inc. is trying to do with its cashierless stores. Brain's robots are equipped with an array of sensors that let them to gather and upload data.
Walmart continues to face calls to raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour, and the recently-introduced "Stop Walmart Act" aims to pressure the company to do so.
"If Walmart can find $20 billion for stock buybacks to further enrich the Waltons, it can find the money to raise the pay of its workers to a living wage," said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif), who introduced the measure in the House. "It's time to put workers over wealthy corporations--across our nation, one company at a time."
Urgent. It's never been this bad.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just two days to go in our Spring Campaign, we're falling short of our make-or-break goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Walmart announced Monday it will have 360 floor-cleaning robots in its stores by the end of January.
In a joint statement with developer Brain Corp, the retail giant said a Walmart worker would first ride the Zamboni-like machine to teach it the route; after that a push of the button would allow machine to take off on the route by itself.
"You see what happens when you all keep complaining about a living wage!?" commented one social media user. Another tweeted sarcastically, "Looks like Trump's corporate tax cuts are helping create jobs and increase wages!"
As Bloomberg reported,
Walmart has already been experimenting with automating the scanning of shelves for out-of-stock items and hauling products from storage for online orders. Advances in computer vision are also making it possible to use retail floor data to better understand consumer behavior, improve inventory tracking and even do away with checkout counters, as Amazon.com Inc. is trying to do with its cashierless stores. Brain's robots are equipped with an array of sensors that let them to gather and upload data.
Walmart continues to face calls to raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour, and the recently-introduced "Stop Walmart Act" aims to pressure the company to do so.
"If Walmart can find $20 billion for stock buybacks to further enrich the Waltons, it can find the money to raise the pay of its workers to a living wage," said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif), who introduced the measure in the House. "It's time to put workers over wealthy corporations--across our nation, one company at a time."
Walmart announced Monday it will have 360 floor-cleaning robots in its stores by the end of January.
In a joint statement with developer Brain Corp, the retail giant said a Walmart worker would first ride the Zamboni-like machine to teach it the route; after that a push of the button would allow machine to take off on the route by itself.
"You see what happens when you all keep complaining about a living wage!?" commented one social media user. Another tweeted sarcastically, "Looks like Trump's corporate tax cuts are helping create jobs and increase wages!"
As Bloomberg reported,
Walmart has already been experimenting with automating the scanning of shelves for out-of-stock items and hauling products from storage for online orders. Advances in computer vision are also making it possible to use retail floor data to better understand consumer behavior, improve inventory tracking and even do away with checkout counters, as Amazon.com Inc. is trying to do with its cashierless stores. Brain's robots are equipped with an array of sensors that let them to gather and upload data.
Walmart continues to face calls to raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour, and the recently-introduced "Stop Walmart Act" aims to pressure the company to do so.
"If Walmart can find $20 billion for stock buybacks to further enrich the Waltons, it can find the money to raise the pay of its workers to a living wage," said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif), who introduced the measure in the House. "It's time to put workers over wealthy corporations--across our nation, one company at a time."