iRobot

iRobot Corporation is an American consumer robotics company that designs & builds robots for the home, including the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner. The company is facing potential bankruptcy as of November 2025, with only $24.8 million in cash remaining & no identified sources for additional capital.^[1] An estimated 10-15 million cloud-dependent iRobot devices remain in active use globally, raising concerns about consumer access to features they purchased if the company's cloud services shut down.^[2] April 2026, users of devices manufactured between 2015 - 2018 have reported their devices no longer have access to cloud services. ^[3]

iRobot was founded in 1990 as a spin-off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology by roboticists Colin Angle, Helen Greiner, & Rodney Brooks. The company initially focused on military & industrial applications before launching the Roomba vacuum cleaner in 2002. By 2016, iRobot held 64% of the global robotic vacuum market, though that declined to 46% by 2022 due to competition from Chinese manufacturers.^[4]

The company went public in 2005 & has sold over 50 million robots.^[5] WiFi connectivity became standard in the 600 series & above starting in the mid-2010s, making the majority of Roombas sold in the past decade dependent on cloud services for premium features.

On November 6, 2025, iRobot reported third-quarter 2025 results showing revenue of $145.8 million, down 24.6% year-over-year, with operating losses of $17.7 million.^[6] Cash reserves plummeted from $134.3 million at year-end 2024 to just $24.8 million by September 2025.^[7]

The company's March 2025 Form 10-K included an auditor-issued going concern warning stating:

“Given these uncertainties and the implication they may have on the company’s financials, there is substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least 12 months,”^[8]

CEO Gary Cohen acknowledged in November 2025:

"at this time, the Company has no sources upon which it can draw for additional capital."^[9]

The company's strategic alternatives review, initiated in March 2025 to explore potential sales or refinancing, collapsed in October 2025 when the last remaining acquisition buyer withdrew after "last week the last remaining counterparty to a potential sale transaction withdrew from the process following a lengthy period of exclusive negotiations"^[10] Full-year 2024 financial results showed total revenue of $681.8 million, down 23.4% from 2023, with a net loss of $145.5 million.^[11] The company has accumulated approximately $550 million in losses since Q4 2021.^[12]

On August 5, 2022, Amazon announced plans to acquire iRobot for $1.7 billion in cash ($61 per share).^[13] The deal immediately triggered regulatory scrutiny from multiple jurisdictions concerned about competition, market foreclosure, & consumer privacy.

The Federal Trade Commission issued a "second request" for additional information on September 19, 2022, launching a deep antitrust investigation.^[14] The FTC's probe focused on whether Amazon could favor iRobot products over competitors on its marketplace platform, create barriers to entry & innovation, & exploit consumer privacy through access to home mapping data.^[15]

On September 9, 2022, a coalition of 25 public interest organizations including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Public Citizen, & Fight for the Future sent a letter to the FTC urging the deal's blockage, warning that "there is no more private space than the home" & that the acquisition would give Amazon "access to extremely intimate facts about our most private spaces."^[16]

The European Commission opened a Phase II in-depth investigation on July 6, 2023, examining whether Amazon could restrict competition in the robot vacuum cleaner market.^[17] On November 27, 2023, the Commission issued a formal Statement of Objections concluding Amazon could engage in foreclosure strategies including delisting rival products which lowers the viability of competitors & raising costs of rival businesses which "could restrict competition in market for robot vacuum cleaners, leading to higher prices, lower quality, & less innovation for consumers."^[18]

The UK Competition & Markets Authority cleared the deal unconditionally on June 16, 2023, finding that iRobot's market position was "modest" with significant rivals, & that Amazon lacked economic incentive to disadvantage competitors.^[19]

On January 29, 2024, Amazon & iRobot mutually terminated the acquisition agreement, citing "no path to regulatory approval in the European Union."^[20]

The deal's collapse had devastating consequences: iRobot immediately laid off 350 employees (31% of staff), founder Colin Angle resigned as CEO after 33 years.^[21]

In July 2017, CEO Colin Angle made statements to Reuters suggesting the company could share or sell customer home mapping data to major technology companies within two years.^[22] Reuters reported Angle said iRobot "could reach a deal to sell its maps to one or more of the Big Three [Amazon, Apple, Google] in the next couple of years" & that while the company would not sell data without permission.

Angle told Reuters that iRobot would not give out the mapping data it collects without customers’ permission, which is good. That indicates that if and when this starts happening, there will be a notice to users, and that they’ll have a clear chance to refuse consent (though Angle expressed confidence that people would agree).^[22]

Following quick consumer backlash, iRobot issued formal clarifications claiming Reuters "misinterpreted" the comments. The company's July 28-29, 2017 statement declared:

"First things first, iRobot will never sell your data. Colin never said that iRobot would look to sell customer maps or data to other companies."^[23]

In a September 2017 follow-up interview with IEEE Spectrum, Angle clarified: "We don't even remember your map unless you tell us we can."^[24]

According to iRobot's privacy documentation, WiFi-enabled Roomba devices collect extensive data including:^[25]

• Mapping data: room dimensions, furniture locations, virtual landmarks, navigation points
• Usage data: cleaning duration & frequency, distance traveled, error codes, dirt detection events & locations
• User account information: names, email addresses, shipping & billing addresses, device identifiers
• Voice command data when voice assistant integration is enabled

In December 2022, MIT Technology Review published an investigation revealing that development Roomba J7 series units captured private photos that were subsequently leaked by data annotation workers.^[26] The outlet obtained 15 screenshots from development robots including images of a woman sitting on a toilet & a young boy lying on a hallway floor.

iRobot responded that the images came from "special development robots with hardware & software modifications" not present in consumer products, & that users signed consent agreements. The company acknowledged having shared "over 2 million" images with Scale AI alone for data annotation. A critical revelation was that iRobot does not consider faces "sensitive information" requiring special protection, despite computer vision experts stating that silhouettes would be sufficient for obstacle avoidance without capturing faces.^[27]

Features that become unavailable without cloud access include:

• Remote connection & control via the iRobot HOME app
• Cleaning history & Clean Map Reports
• Imprint Smart Mapping for i Series robots
• Software & firmware updates
• Scheduling automated cleaning sessions
• Voice control integration with Alexa & Google Assistant
• Multi-room control allowing direction to specific rooms by name
• Custom cleaning preferences including power boost & cleaning passes

There is an ongoing thread regarding solutions for local control of the recent 505 series of robots, see https://github.com/home-assistant/core/issues/146155#issuecomment-3531411934.

Owners of 900 series iRobots are reporting a loss of cloud access and bricked devices. They are receiving error codes c181/c182 which according to irobot's website state "900 series robots with a manufacturing date between 2015 - 2018 may no longer be supported."

Multiple users have reported no longer being able to adjust the robot's settings, cleaning schedules or any other functionality provided through the app.

Upon trying to seek assistance in the r/Roomba subreddit, they are being banned and having their posts deleted. This is relevant as the moderator of the r/Roomba community has in the past claimed official affiliation with iRobot - it creates a public perception that iRobot endorse censorship of its own customers.

https://www.reddit.com/r/RobotVacuums/comments/1sb6siu/irobot_is_intentionally_bricking_older_roombas/

• Right to repair
• Internet of Things
• Cloud computing
• Smart home
• Neato cloud shutdown