Amazon Buys iRobot Vacuums to See Inside Your Home

Amazon has recently bought iRobot, the company that makes Roomba robot vacuums, for $1.7 billion.

Amazon wants iRobot for its smart home business. The vacuum company has a lot of information about customers’ homes. The smart vacuums know where your kitchen is, where your bedrooms are, and where your sofa is. They also know when you change things in your rooms.

This type of data is very important for a company that wants to sell you more stuff. Some people are excited to see how Amazon can use this information to improve smart homes. However, others are worried about privacy and data protection.

Amazon already has a history of privacy controversies. Its home security cameras, called Ring, share information with police departments. Its Echo smart speaker (Alexa) is always listening and recording sound in your home. Now, the vacuum will give Amazon more information about your daily life.

Marja Koopmans, the director of Alexa smart home (Amazon), says that more AI devices working together in the home will be better for customers. 

For example, an Echo smart speaker can already understand “get me a beer.” But, it doesn’t know what beer looks like and it doesn’t know where the refrigerator is. With more information, smart homes can do more. 

Before buying iRobot, Amazon already had plans to get information about the inside of our homes with Astro, a home bot, or “pet robot.” Astro has similar sensors and cameras to iRobot vacuums, but it’s $1,000 and doesn’t clean the floor. There also isn’t a release date yet.

Trust from consumers could be a major roadblock for Amazon. Will customers share more information with Amazon?