Amazon king of the big R&D spenders

Amazon spent $22.6 billion on R&D last year.

That’s according to FactSet research first reported by Recode, showing that tech companies claimed the top five spots in the US for R&D spending last year, investing a combined total of $76 billion. Amazon topped the list, with Google parent Alphabet coming in second at $16.6 billion, followed by Intel at $13.1 billion, Microsoft at $12.3 billion and Apple at $11.6 billion. Facebook also made the top 10, spending $7.8 billion.

Amazon has invested heavily in its cloud computing arm, Amazon Web Services and digital assistant Alexa. It has also poured resources into Amazon Go, its cashier-less grocery store concept. The first one of these opened to the public in Seattle earlier this year, following a nearly 14-month trial involving employees at its HQ.

Shoppers open a mobile app and scan a QR code at the entrance, at which point the store’s electronic arm barriers open. Amazon says: “Our checkout-free shopping experience is made possible by the same types of technologies used in self-driving cars: computer vision, sensor fusion, and deep learning. Our Just Walk Out Technology automatically detects when products are taken from or returned to the shelves and keeps track of them in a virtual cart. When you’re done shopping, you can just leave the store. Shortly after, we’ll send you a receipt and charge your Amazon account.”