phone carrier
Softbank's robot army grows with a stake in Roomba's owner
Softbank may be best known as one of Japan's top phone carriers, but their recent behind-the-scenes investments make it clear they want something more. Bloomberg Technology reports that the Japanese company has invested in iRobot, the manufacturer of the robot vacuum Roomba, with a stake of less than 5 percent. This isn't the first robotics company that Softbank has put some money into. Just last month, the phone carrier purchased Boston Dynamics from Google, along with all of its robots. Softbank also has found success with its companion robot, Pepper.