Google plans to sell Boston Dynamics division

Alphabet’s plans to sell Boston Dynamics, a robotics company specializing in manufacturing three years ago, were announced today, according to Bloomberg news agency. Potential buyers are Amazon and Toyota. The first is already using robots in its own storage facilities and distribution centers.

The takeover of Boston Dynamics took place in 2013 by Google as part of the Replicant division, which develops robotic solutions. But almost a year Replicant is in a strange state after carechief architect Andy Rubin. At the time of the creation of Alphabet and the restructuring of Google, many thought that Replicant would separate into a separate company, but in the end it merged with the Google X division. Apparently, even then Boston Dynamics did not enter this division and Alphabet management then considered the possibility of selling.

As part of the latest developments, Boston Dynamics released several videos demonstrating their own robots - the developers clearly demonstrated their ability to stabilize in the “field” environment, and in some tests they shot down them to show their ability to adapt to a changing environment.



Despite the impressive prototypes of robots, Boston Dynamics was unable to offer real products for release in the near future, and also expressed its unwillingness to cooperate with other Google engineers in Tokyo and California.



In November, documents from a meeting between the heads of units got into the network. They included information on the position of adviser to the head of Alphabet Larry Page, Jonathan Rosenberg (at the time of the meeting he was the head of Replicant), who met with Boston Dynamics employees, explaining the position of the company, which cannot spend 30% of resources on projects requiring ten years to implement .

“We, as a startup of this size, cannot afford to spend 30% of our resources on things that require ten years to develop. We need to consider something that will be released in the near future and will be able to cover such costs, ”said Jonathan Rosenberg.

As for cooperation with other divisions of Google, then everything is ambiguous. So, the director of the development of robotic solutions for Google Aaron Edsinger at this meeting spoke about the proposal in conjunction with Boston Dynamics to develop an energy-efficient quadrocopter, but in the end came across the reluctance of any cooperation.

The audience’s reaction to the Boston Dynamics robot demonstration has likewise become a problem for Google’s reputation.

“You can see the enthusiasm among the specialized magazines and sites, but we also see a negative reaction about the potential threat posed by robots that can occupy people's jobs,” said Communications Director Corney Hon.

Representatives of Google have not yet commented on this information, which is typical of rumors of such a plan.