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Google agrees to sell Boston Dynamics to SoftBank

By James Lu - on 9 Jun 2017, 2:33pm

Google agrees to sell Boston Dynamics to SoftBank

Google has agreed to sell robotics firm, Boston Dynamics, to Japanese telco and tech company SoftBank (who also purchased ARM last year). Terms of the deal are currently unknown. Boston Dynamics was acquired by Google in 2013 when Android co-founder Andy Rubin was heading up Google's robotics division. However, after Rubin left in 2014, the robotics division was disbanded, leaving companies like Boston Dynamics in flux.

“We at Boston Dynamics are excited to be part of SoftBank’s bold vision and its position creating the next technology revolution, and we share SoftBank’s belief that advances in technology should be for the benefit of humanity,” said Marc Raibert, CEO and founder of Boston Dynamics, in a prepared statement. “We look forward to working with SoftBank in our mission to push the boundaries of what advanced robots can do and to create useful applications in a smarter and more connected world.”

The sale of Boston Dynamics is probably the result of the overall restructuring and cost-saving strategy set forth by Alphabet (Google's parent company) CFO Ruth Porat last year, the company has taken significant measures to slim down its experimental efforts and rein in its “moonshot” projects, which includes most of its robotics projects.

“Today, there are many issues we still cannot solve by ourselves with human capabilities. Smart robotics are going to be a key driver of the next stage of the Information Revolution, and Marc and his team at Boston Dynamics are the clear technology leaders in advanced dynamic robots,” said SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son, in a statement. “I am thrilled to welcome them to the SoftBank family and look forward to supporting them as they continue to advance the field of robotics and explore applications that can help make life easier, safer, and more fulfilling.”

Source: Business Wire

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