Amazon to buy Roomba-maker iRobot in US$1.7bil deal

Amazon has been investing in smart home and automation technologies with acquisitions such as Ring doorbells, Kiva warehouse robots and self-driving startup Zoox. — Reuters

SAN FRANCISCO: Amazon on Friday announced a US$1.7bil (RM7.58bil) deal to buy the maker of robotic vacuum Roomba in a merger that would play into the tech giant's artificial intelligence and smart home ambitions.

US-based iRobot is a global company that builds robots and "intelligent home" innovations, having introduced Roomba self-operating vacuums a decade ago, Amazon said in a release.