Business
Amazon to Buy Maker of the Roomba for $1.7 Billion
Hey, Alexa, tell Roomba to vacuum the bedroom.
Amazon announced on Friday that it had reached an agreement to buy iRobot Corp., the maker of the Roomba robotic vacuum, for $1.7 billion, adding to its growing roster of smart home products.
“We know that saving time matters, and chores take precious time that can be better spent doing something that customers love,” Dave Limp, senior vice president of Amazon Devices, said in a statement announcing the acquisition.
Amazon will acquire iRobot, including its debt, for $61 per share in an all-cash transaction, according to the statement. The purchase would be Amazon’s fourth-largest acquisition after the company bought Whole Foods for $13.7 billion in 2017 and the movie studio MGM for $8.5 billion last year. Last month, Amazon announced a foray into medical services with an agreement to spend $3.9 billion to acquire One Medical, a chain of primary care clinics around the United States.
The Roomba and iRobot’s other cleaning devices, including robotic mops and air purifiers, join a portfolio of Amazon-owned smart home devices that includes Ring doorbells and Alexa, Amazon’s virtual assistant and speaker. iRobot also makes an educational robot called Root that allows children to experiment with coding.
The Roomba first hit dirty floors in 2002, to the delight of lazy people and the bemusement of pets, particularly cats. The New York Times described it as “easy, effective and fun,” and a product that quickly became “a member of the household.”
The $200 early version struggled around corners and chair legs, even falling down stairs. But 20 years later, the Roomba j7 can, according to the company, recognize over 80 common objects (including cords and pet waste), returns to its dock once its chores are complete and then empties itself. The most expensive option sells for $999.99.
While iRobot is best known for its roving cleaning equipment, the technology powering these tools is also sucking up troves of spatial data used to map users’ homes. Some digital rights groups have expressed concern that this data could help companies like Amazon find out information about the size of homes and even their contents, right down to the brand.
iRobot reported $255.4 million in revenue in the second quarter of 2022, a 30 percent decrease over the previous year. Amazon reported $121.2 billion in revenue in the second quarter, up 7.2 percent from a year earlier but down slightly from the 7.3 percent revenue growth it reported in the first quarter of this year. It was Amazon’s slowest growth in more than two decades after the company began to come down from its high pandemic demands.
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Business
Deadline Aug. 5: Center for Black Entrepreneurship Opens Paid Internship Program for AUC Students
(ATLANTA — August 3, 2026) — The Center for Black Entrepreneurship is accepting applications for its 2026–2027 Paid Internship Program, offering students across the Atlanta University Center an opportunity to gain hands-on professional experience while supporting programs designed to empower entrepreneurs.
The internship program is open to eligible students attending Spelman College, Morehouse College, Clark Atlanta University and Morris Brown College.
Available internship opportunities include:
- Marketing and social media
- Photography and videography
- Administrative operations
Selected interns will work alongside Center for Black Entrepreneurship staff and industry partners while gaining real-world experience in entrepreneurship, marketing, event management, operations and program administration. Interns will also have opportunities to strengthen their professional skills, expand their networks and contribute to events and initiatives serving the AUC community.
Who Is Eligible?
Applicants must:
- Be a sophomore, junior or senior
- Be currently enrolled at Spelman College, Morehouse College, Clark Atlanta University or Morris Brown College
- Maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.75
- Attend mandatory team meetings on Mondays at 6:30 p.m. and Thursdays beginning at 5 p.m.
- Be available for occasional evening and weekend events
- Commit approximately 10 to 15 hours per week throughout the academic year
Required Application Materials
Students should be prepared to submit:
- A résumé
- A professional biography of at least 200 words
- An official or unofficial transcript
- One letter of recommendation
- A portfolio or work samples for photography and videography or marketing and social media positions
The deadline to apply is Wednesday, August 5, 2026, at 5 p.m.
With the deadline quickly approaching, interested and eligible students are encouraged to gather their materials and submit their applications as soon as possible.
The Center for Black Entrepreneurship is a collaborative initiative serving the Atlanta University Center and working to strengthen the pipeline of Black entrepreneurs through education, mentorship, professional development and access to entrepreneurial resources.
APPLY
(RICHMOND – February 23, 2026) – Black-owned newspapers are disappearing before our eyes.
Historic institutions that once carried our stories, defended our dignity, and documented our victories are folding across the country. Newsrooms that anchored neighborhoods for generations are going quiet. Seniors who relied on the printed word are now being forced into a digital world that did not wait for them.
This is not just a Black problem. It is not even just an American problem. It is global.
Technology disrupted everything.
We once used pagers. Then cell phones replaced them. House phones became optional. Now news lives in the palm of your hand. A single influencer with a smartphone can reach more people in seconds than a newsroom once could in a week.
The game changed.
Years ago, The Baltimore Sun recruited me to blog for them. Soon after, their reporters were required to shoot video on their phones. The thing is — I had already been doing that. Innovation wasn’t new to us. We were early.
But disruption leaves casualties.
When a Black newspaper closes, something more than a business disappears. Institutional memory vanishes. Accountability weakens. Community narrative shifts into someone else’s hands.
That void is dangerous.
That is why we built BlackUSA.News.
Not as nostalgia.
Not as resistance to change.
But as adaptation with intention.
I have worked in the Black Press since 1994. I have seen what happens when we control our story — and what happens when we don’t.
BlackUSA.News is our answer to this moment.
We are not watching the Black Press die.
We are rebuilding it — digitally, nationally, unapologetically.
And we welcome all who are ready to build with us.
Deadline Aug. 5: Center for Black Entrepreneurship Opens Paid Internship Program for AUC Students
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BlackUSA.News Unveils New National Platform Connecting Readers to America’s Leading Black Media
Gospel Legend Calvin Bridges Celebrates 50 Years of ‘I Can Go to God in Prayer,’ a Song That Helped Shape Black Gospel Music
Crawford Family Donates $2 Million to Spelman and Morehouse to Expand Opportunity for HBCU Students
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