Ambi Robotics adds eight sites and spare parts to prepare for peak season

Ambi Robotics, based in Berkeley, California, is getting its sortation robots ready for the holiday rush. Co-founder and chief operating officer Stephen McKinley told The Robot Report on 5 November 2026 that the company expects customer volume to grow 9% to 10% over last year's peak. He noted that logistics providers in general can see throughput jump 25% to 40% in a season.

Before peak starts, Ambi is bringing eight new facilities online, most with a new variation of its AmbiSort system. During the season, about half of the team will travel between sites while the other half stays ready to fix problems. Spare parts, including computers, are moved from headquarters to customer hubs such as Cincinnati. Ambi also gives operators extra training, since how well people use a machine affects its results.

Ambi says its AI does not improve itself in the field. New versions are retrained on collected data and tested in a controlled setting before wider release.

Why it matters

Peak season is when a stalled sorter costs the most, so spare parts, trained staff and cautious software updates are a practical test of physical AI. McKinley also said support calls go to the same people who do on-site training and repairs, and an internal AI tool helps that small team spot trouble early. Ambi has not named the new sites or customers, nor shared uptime figures. Watch whether the eight installations run smoothly through the rush.