A new report reveals Amazon could soon be offering its customers home insurance by using its robots and other home devices.
(Video credit: Alcynna Lloyd)
Amazon could begin to use its artificial intelligence and smart home devices to monitor for threats such as fires and burglaries, therefore allowing the company to offer cheaper premiums, according to an article by Priya Anand for The Information.
While it appears Amazon may be looking into the possibility, it has yet to make any solid plans, and has not rolled out any products, according to the article.
The company is also rumored to be developing robots that can perform tasks such as detecting smoke, carbon monoxide, excess heat or loud noises.
These robots, codenamed Vesta, according to a Bloomberg report, could be in employees’ homes by the end of 2018, and offered to consumers as early as 2019.
Over the past few months, Amazon has hinted at expansion into real estate in various ways.
Last July, the online monolith quietly tested (and then removed) a feature that would connect a potential homebuyer or seller with a real estate agent.
And earlier this year, Amazon began exploring a move into mortgage lending. In fact, HousingWire’s Editor-in-Chief, Jacob Gaffney, reported in March that Amazon is looking to hire the head of a soon-to-be-announced mortgage division.
Then, just last month, the company announced that it is partnering with Lennar, the nation’s largest homebuilder, to launch what it calls Amazon Experience Centers. The Experience Centers are basically showrooms for all of Amazon’s smart home products. But instead of Amazon opening up its own brick-and-mortar showrooms, it’s partnering with Lennar to trick out model homes with Amazon gadgets.
