Amazon's smart doorbell Ring, which includes a video camera, is being promoted by US police departments as part of crime prevention efforts, while civil liberties activists warn of expanded surveillance
Amazon's smart doorbell Ring, which includes a video camera, is being promoted by US police departments as part of crime prevention efforts, while civil liberties activists warn of expanded surveillance AFP / Lionel BONAVENTURE

Amazon announced Wednesday that the company is set to build a new 350,000 square feet robotics hub in Westborough, Massachusetts, creating roughly 200 high tech and advanced manufacturing jobs. Amazon will invest more than $400 million into the facility, which allows the company to hire more personnel for its Amazon Robotics subsidiary in the state.

“This will be a world-class facility, where our teams can design, build, program, and ship our robots, all under the same roof. This expansion will allow us to continue to innovate quickly and improve delivery speed for customers around the world,” Tye Brady, Amazon Robotics' Chief Technologist, said in a statement.

“We are pleased that Amazon plans to increase their substantial presence with a state-of-the-art robotics facility," Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said.

The facility will be home to corporate offices, labs and manufacturing space and will be developed by Atlantic Management of Framingham, Massachusetts.

Amazon already has a robotics headquarters in North Reading, which lies north of Boston. Amazon has claimed that it has created over 4,000 full-time jobs and made an investment of over $3 billion in the state since 2011.

In March 2012, Amazon acquired Massachusetts-based Kiva Systems for $775 million. Amazon wanted to buy the company because it manufactures robotic fulfillment systems, which would bolster the company's supply chain.

In 2015, Kiva Systems LLC became Amazon Robotics LLC.

According to its website, "Amazon Robotics automates fulfillment center operations using various methods of robotic technology including autonomous mobile robots, sophisticated control software, language perception, power management, computer vision, depth sensing, machine learning, object recognition, and semantic understanding of commands."

Amazon is currently trying to build autonomous drones to deliver its packages and is seeking approval from federal regulators.