According to a recent article in the Progressive Grocer Amazon is working with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on applying artificial intelligence to expedite deliveries.  The Amazon Last Mile Routing Research Challenge will motivate academics to develop machine- learning models to refine delivery routes.  MIT will update the ‘traveling-salesman’ problem to determine most efficient routes with multiple destinations.  The Amazon Last Mile team will develop planning software for delivery fleets to determine the most efficient routing.

The joint initiative between Amazon and MIT will attempt to incorporate driver knowledge into route optimization.  Amazon is making available databases and existing route details and will offer prizes from $25,000 to $100,000 for solutions in the Last Mile competition.