British firm Dyson plans to hire 450 engineers and scientists in Singapore and the U.K.

Dyson founder and chief engineer Sir James Dyson speaks onstage in New York City.

Jason Kempin | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images

British home appliance giant Dyson, best known for its vacuum cleaners, will be hiring 450 new staff in Singapore and the U.K.

The new hires will be a part of Dyson’s £2.75 billion ($3.7 billion) global technology investment plan as the company seeks to expand research into advanced robotics and artificial intelligence.

In its global headquarters Singapore, Dyson will recruit 250 new engineers to double its existing software and electronics engineering teams, the company said Wednesday. The firm currently employs about 1,400 people in the city-state, nearly half of which are engineers and scientists.

Dyson said it also plans to set up a cybersecurity research center in Singapore.

We are growing our research and engineering teams to achieve radical leaps in the performance of our machines, underpinned by technologies…

James Dyson

founder and chief engineer, Dyson

The British technology firm announced in 2019 that it was shifting its headquarters from Wiltshire, U.K., to Singapore citing growth opportunities in Asia — a move that was widely criticized as its billionaire founder James Dyson was a prominent advocate for Brexit.

“We are growing our research and engineering teams to achieve radical leaps in the performance of our machines, underpinned by technologies such as solid-state batteries and robotics,” said Dyson, the company’s founder and chief engineer.

In the United Kingdom, another 200 people will be hired in science and research roles at Dyson’s Malmesbury and Hullavington innovation campuses, the company said.

The new roles there will focus on breakthroughs in areas such as AI, machine learning as well as high-speed digital motors and sensing technology.

Over 4,000 people, most of them engineers and scientists, work at Dyson’s U.K. offices.

Dyson’s research and development teams are spread across the U.K., Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia and the United States.

The company scrapped plans to to build electric cars in 2019.