Home Business News Amazon Acquires iRobot for a Cool $1.7 Billion

Amazon Acquires iRobot for a Cool $1.7 Billion

Amazon Acquires iRobot for a Cool $1.7 billion

Amazon has bought iRobot, the parent company of the wildly popular Roomba robotic vacuums, for $1.7 billion. The deal comes on the heels of iRobot’s release of iRobot OS, an AI-integrated platform for its intelligent vacuums and mops. In regards to the new acquisition, Dave Limp, SVP of Amazon Devices said: “Customers love iRobot products — and I’m excited to work with the iRobot team to invent in ways that make customers’ lives easier and more enjoyable.”      

In other news, Meta has just announced that it will be ditching Facebook Live Shopping as of the first of October in favor of merchants focusing more on promoting products via Facebook and Instagram Reels. After the October 1 deadline, users won’t be able to host or schedule live shopping events, create product playlists or tag products in Facebook live videos. In its post detailing the decision, the company said: “As consumers’ viewing behaviors are shifting to short-form video, we are shifting our focus to Reels on Facebook and Instagram, Meta’s short-form video product.” 

Lastly, the Department of Labor has just released surprising data showing that U.S. employers added 526,000 jobs in July. This is the largest monthly growth in jobs since February and it equates to a roughly 125,000 job increase from June. This latest growth brings total national employment levels back to the pre-pandemic levels of February 2020. The strong national job market is holding on despite higher interest rates and consistent pressure from the Fed to stem economic growth in the hope of curbing inflation. 

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