Amazon beefs up drone delivery R&D in Cambridge

Amazon is expanding its R&D facilities in Cambridge, UK, with a plan to move into a new 60,000 sq ft site in the city with capacity for more than 400 staff. Cambridge University, one of the UK's top tier academic institutions, has a strong focus on science -- explaining why a raft of tech firms (not just Amazon) have chosen to site R&D efforts there. Announcing the expansion of its Cambridge development operations yesterday, Amazon said staff at the site will include machine learning scientists, knowledge engineers, data scientists, mathematical modellers, speech scientists and software engineers, with teams set to work on programs including its drone delivery effort, Prime Air; Amazon devices; and Alexa, its AI voice assistant tech. It said its existing development building in the city, at Castle Hill, will be used primarily for research and development related to its drone delivery efforts, once the new One The Square R&D facility opens this fall. The new R&D building is located in the business district adjacent to Cambridge train station, putting it less than an hour by rail from London.