Amazon is to hire 400 extra staff to work in a new R&D centre in Cambridge, bringing to 1,500 the total number of its UK employees working on new "innovations".
UK country manager Doug Gurr said: "By the end of this year, we will have more than 1,500 innovation related roles here in Britain, working on everything from machine learning and drone technology to streaming video technology and Amazon Web Services."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Staff will work on existing Amazon tech such as Alexa, the company's home assistant rival to Apple's Siri, and Google Home. They will also work on the AI software which powers Alexa and other innovations.
Amazon's existing Castle Hill office will stay open and will switch to working exclusively on Prime Air, the company's mooted drone delivery system.
Additionally, Amazon also appears to be working on a UK version of the checkout-free grocery shop it has been trialling in the US, says The Guardian.
Amazon Go brand allows customers to fill their baskets and leave with the purchases without going through a till. Sensors charge their online Amazon accounts instead.
The concept has been tested near the company's global HQ in Seattle, but there have been a few "technical glitches" and public opening has been delayed, says the newspaper.
Other technology which may be developed in Cambridge includes Echo Look, a smart camera which utilises Alexa to give fashion advice to users.
Amazon plans to have 15 delivery warehouses open in the UK by the end of 2017, adds the Guardian. It opened a new site in Daventry in February and warehouses are planned this year in Doncaster, Warrington and Tilbury.
The firm's total UK workforce will grow from 19,000 to 24,000 this year.
-
The 5 best political thriller series of the 21st centuryThe Week Recommends Viewers can binge on most anything, including espionage and the formation of parliamentary coalitions
-
Sudan stands on the brink of another national schismThe Explainer With tens of thousands dead and millions displaced, one of Africa’s most severe outbreaks of sectarian violence is poised to take a dramatic turn for the worse
-
‘Not every social scourge is an act of war’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
How the online world relies on AWS cloud serversThe Explainer Chaos caused by Monday’s online outage shows that ‘when AWS sneezes, half the internet catches the flu’
-
iPhone Air: Thinness comes at a high priceFeature Apple’s new iPhone is its thinnest yet but is it worth the higher price and weaker battery life?
-
Is the UK government getting too close to Big Tech?Today’s Big Question US-UK tech pact, supported by Nvidia and OpenAI, is part of Silicon Valley drive to ‘lock in’ American AI with US allies
-
Google: A monopoly past its prime?Feature Google’s antitrust case ends with a slap on the wrist as courts struggle to keep up with the tech industry’s rapid changes
-
South Korea's divide over allowing Google MapsTalking Points The country is one of few modern democracies where the app doesn't work
-
Google avoids the worst in antitrust rulingSpeed Read A federal judge rejected the government's request to break up Google
-
Is AI killing the internet?Talking Point AI-powered browsers and search engines are threatening the death of the open web
-
Amazon's robotaxi looks to be Waymo's biggest competitorIn the Spotlight The company recently opened a new robotaxi production plant in California
