Dnext

A robotics presentation plays out at Amazon’s MARS 2022 conference. (Andy Jassy via Twitter)

Billionaire Jeff Bezos missed out on his usual chauffeuring duties at the West Texas launch orchestrated today by his Blue Origin space venture, but he had a good excuse: He was presiding over Amazon’s MARS 2022, an invitation-only conference held this week in California.

His successor as Amazon’s CEO, Andy Jassy, was there as well.

The hush-hush MARS conference had its first annual run back in 2016, and spawned a public event called re:MARS in 2019. The acronym stands for Machine learning,** A*utomation, **Robotics and **S*pace — and it also evokes Bezos’ long-term goal of having millions of people living and working in space.

MARS is an opportunity for the compu-cognoscenti to rub elbows (but our invitation must have gotten lost in the mail … again). It’s also a photo opportunity for Bezos: Who can forget the shots of “Buff Bezos” striding alongside a robo-dog, or Bezos at the controls of a giant robot, or trying out a hexacopter?

The 2020 and 2021 conferences had to be called off due to the coronavirus pandemic, but based on the tweets and Instagram posts emanating from this year’s site in Ojai, Calif., MARS was back in full force in 2022. Here’s a sampling:

[

View this post on Instagram

](https://www.instagram.com/tv/Cbt3qGjFHhD/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading)

[

A post shared by Jeff Bezos (@jeffbezos)

](https://www.instagram.com/tv/Cbt3qGjFHhD/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading)

Rain outside not dampening Amazon

[

#MARS2022

](https://twitter.com/hashtag/MARS2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

… some of brightest minds in machine learning, automation, robotics and space. Feel lucky to be surrounded by so many brilliant and accomplished people working on next generation of disruptive inventions.

[

pic.twitter.com/2zjwxrF5WV

](https://t.co/2zjwxrF5WV)

— Andy Jassy (@ajassy)

[

March 28, 2022

](https://twitter.com/ajassy/status/1508497333872312323?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

Mind blowing frontier tech on display at

[

#MARS2022

](https://twitter.com/hashtag/MARS2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

. Jeff Bezos showed himself to be a kind person, genuinely driven to carry forward humanity.

[

#neurotech

](https://twitter.com/hashtag/neurotech?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

and

[

#BCI

](https://twitter.com/hashtag/BCI?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

were recognised as entering a golden age, with an overwhelming response to

[

@synchroninc

](https://twitter.com/synchroninc?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

tech. Steaming forward now ❤️

[

pic.twitter.com/1iwlC7QSSJ

](https://t.co/1iwlC7QSSJ)

— Thomas Oxley (@tomoxl)

[

March 30, 2022

](https://twitter.com/tomoxl/status/1509274556963336192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

Only at

[

#Mars2022

](https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mars2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

Richard Browning entrance: Reimagining human flight!

[

pic.twitter.com/sRMQ8K0Ujk

](https://t.co/sRMQ8K0Ujk)

— Joyce Sidopoulos (@Joyce4girls)

[

March 29, 2022

](https://twitter.com/Joyce4girls/status/1508883885827915776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

Making lots of new friends at

[

#mars2022

](https://twitter.com/hashtag/mars2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

[

pic.twitter.com/NfOGu6gDuy

](https://t.co/NfOGu6gDuy)

— Sara Imari Walker (@Sara_Imari)

[

March 29, 2022

](https://twitter.com/Sara_Imari/status/1508909896753827841?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

What an honor to meet

[

@jeweljk

](https://twitter.com/jeweljk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

at

[

#mars2022

](https://twitter.com/hashtag/mars2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

thank you for moving our hearts and minds!

[

https://t.co/apLospoFIJ

](https://t.co/apLospoFIJ)

[

pic.twitter.com/5ZxI9q2clC

](https://t.co/5ZxI9q2clC)

— Dava Newman (@DavaExplorer)

[

March 29, 2022

](https://twitter.com/DavaExplorer/status/1508657001793945611?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

Only at MARS are the animals robots. I think myself and everyone else just passed the Turing Test.

[

#Mars2022

](https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mars2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

[

pic.twitter.com/Ce0frpGOvJ

](https://t.co/Ce0frpGOvJ)

— Jason Dunn (@ImJasonDunn)

[

March 30, 2022

](https://twitter.com/ImJasonDunn/status/1508982430375428098?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

We closed out the event last night

[

https://t.co/f2lWQblAKu

](https://t.co/f2lWQblAKu)

right after

[

@jeweljk

](https://twitter.com/jeweljk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

. Here's a new take on 'live streaming": streaming ionized noble gases. Pic: Dr Megavolt seated with his Noble Gas Light Saber. Look! Ionized neon gas travels down the line …

[