SINGAPORE, May 3 — High-end appliance maker Dyson said today that it would open a new factory in Singapore to manufacture next-generation batteries, as well as new facilities elsewhere to boost its research into AI and software development.

At the size of 53 basketball courts, Dyson said the new plant was expected to be fully operational by 2025 and would be its most significant investment in advanced manufacturing.

The company said research teams had been working globally on proprietary new technology for batteries, which would be assembled in a "smart, digitally enabled environment”.

Dyson — famous for its bagless vacuum cleaners, among other gadgets — started its in-house battery programme more than a decade ago, aiming to make them more sustainable and energy dense.

Besides the new plant, the Singapore-headquartered firm also revealed plans to set up research and development centres in the UK and the Philippines, all part of its £2.75 billion (US$3.4 billion) five-year investment plan.

The company did not specify how much the new battery plant would cost on its own.

The researchers at the new Philippines centre will focus on AI and robotics, among other areas, and the firm said it intended to hire an additional 450 engineers.

The R&D centre in Bristol is expected to be "working on a pipeline of products that stretches 10 years into the future”, the electronics giant said.

"Software, connectivity, AI, and proprietary new technology batteries will power the next generation of Dyson technology,” said the company’s founder, billionaire inventor James Dyson. — AFP