Google Acquires Boston Dynamics - Run for the hills!

[DaCosta]

Google acquires Boston Dynamics, the robot builder behind Big Dog and Cheetah

 

[Brian G Turner]

Now spy agencies can literally piggyback on Google technology.

 

[Lenny]

Neat!

Since Andy Rubin left Android, the rumour has been that he joined a robotics project in the Google skunkworks, Google[x], as robotics is his major interest.

Google[x], btw, is the research facility that has so far given us an AI that learnt about cats on its own, self-driving cars, and Google Glass. This is a place where people can research things that they find interesting, without the need to shoehorn it into a commercial product (although if it can work as a commercial product, there's no reason why it won't be developed into one).

If the rumours about Rubin are true, and this acquisition is linked to them (as it appears it may be), then Rubin now not only has the resources of a powerful company like Google behind him, but he also has the resources, and all the knowledge, of a robotics company that has been able really push the boundaries of things like natural movement (after all, they are a military contractor**, so they will have had money thrown at them).



**But don't worry, Google isn't getting into the military business - BD will honour its existing contracts, and nothing more. One assumes it will be a similar arrangement (whether voluntary, or a forced requirement for the acquisition to be approved by the authorities) to the acquisition of Motorola, where Google followed through with everything Motorola had in the pipeline when they were acquired, before moving on to projects they wanted.

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EDIT: Apparently my information is slightly wrong - the robotics division is actually separate from Google[x].

Google have been acquiring robotics companies and experts for quite a while (BD is their eighth company), and Andy Rubin has expressed an interest in advancing sensor technology.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/14/5209622/google-has-bought-robotics-company-boston-dynamics

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/14/t...-menagerie-of-robots.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

 

[DaCosta]

It's exciting times. I hope I'm around to see what they come up with. (I'm still waiting for the holo-bands from Caprica to be widely available - C'mon, Google, get your act together).

Does make me a feel a little uneasy though. When did Skynet become self-aware?