Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc. seems to be leaving the robotics market as the company is putting Boston Dynamics up for sale.
Originally acquired in late 2013, Google’s robotic initiative, dubbed Replicant, was plagued by leadership changes, failures to collaborate between companies and an unsuccessful effort to recruit a new leader. A person that was familiar with the group told Bloomberg News that Boston Dynamics executive were reluctant to work with Google’s other robot engineers in California and Tokyo, causing tensions between them to spill into open view within Google.
Not helping matters is the fact that when Google went under Alphabet Inc., its executives wanted all the various companies under its corporate umbrella to have plans to generate real revenue. The executives would eventually conclude that Boston Dynamics isn’t likely to produce a marketable product in the next few years and as such, have put the unit up for sale.
It is currently speculated that Toyota and Amazon are interested in acquiring the robotics outfit. Both Toyota and Amazon have yet to comment on the speculation.
Source: Bloomberg News
