Three years after acquiring the MIT robotics lab Boston Dynamics, makers of Atlas and other scary bots, Alphabet Googles parent company is selling it off to. Its hard to look at the movieor any of Cassinis hauntingly beautiful imagesand not think of something appropriately morose for its Grand Finale. Alphabet Just Unloaded Its Crazy Robots on Japanese Telecom Softbank. Three years after acquiring the MIT robotics lab Boston Dynamics, makers of Atlas and other scary bots, Alphabet Googles parent company is selling it off to Softbank, a Japanese telecommunications company already known for its less terrifying robots like Pepper that might soon be getting some impressive upgrades. It turns out that posting You. Tube videos of nightmare inducing robots isnt as profitable as once hoped. Details of the sale, like how much Softbank paid for Googles now defunct Replicant division havent been revealed yet. Youll recall the skunkworks was founded by Android creator Andy Rubin before he left Alphabet to make smartphones again. But the sale also includes Schaft, another talented robot builder which dominated the DARPA challenge a few years ago. Its been a little over two years since Google now Alphabet decided to scoop up robotics labRead more Read. Alphabet has reportedly been trying to sell off its robot division for almost a year now, with companies like Amazon and Toyota initially suspected as possible buyers. While Boston Dynamics has been responsible for creating some of the most advanced robots ever developed, including the humanoid Atlas, and the four legged Spot and Big Dog, advanced technologies dont come cheap. Hi-Def The Future Is Wild Movie' title='Hi-Def The Future Is Wild Movie' />The reality is that Alphabet was still staring down years of expensive R D before it could profitably sell its robotic creations, and Boston Dynamics and Schaft became victims of the companys efforts to scale back its bleeding edge moonshot investments. We got our first glimpse of Boston Dynamics newest robot about a month ago after footage leakedRead more Read. Back in February, Boston Dynamics revealed a bot called Handle, a two wheeled version of Atlas that the labs founder, Marc Raibert, claimed could be built and sold much cheaper than bots like Atlas. By that point Alphabet was already shopping Boston Dynamics and Schaft around as part of cost saving and restructuring initiatives that saw other moonshot projects getting axed as well. And many suspected that Handle, who had undoubtedly been in development for a while already, was only revealed as a way to sweeten the pot for potential buyers. Boston Dynamics, better known for the hulking robot brute known as ATLAS, has just revealed aRead more Read. So what does Softbank want with Boston Dynamics and Schaft The Japanese telecommunications giant has already poured mountains of cash into developing its friendly looking Pepper and NAO robots, after acquiring Aldebaran Robotics in 2. Fetch Robotics in 2. Demand for Pepper and NAO in Japan has been huge, with Softbank selling out of limited runs almost as soon as theyre made available. So the company is clearly confident theres enough immediate consumer demand to make a few dollars selling bots. In a press release issued about the acquisition, Softbanks Chairman CEO Masayoshi Son praised the work Boston Dynamics has done. 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. I am thrilled to welcome them to the Soft. Bank 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. But will Softbank take the same approach that Google did and just let Boston Dynamics and Schaft develop advanced robots for the sake of pushing the field forward Or does it plan to merge them with its existing robotics teams in hopes of making robots like Pepper and NAO more appealing to consumersR D is expensive, and its safe to assume that Boston Dynamics and Schaft didnt come cheap, so the company will almost certainly carefully balance both approaches, which means your dreams of a robot butler are suddenly a lot closer to becoming reality. Featured products The professions most highly regarded educators will lead more than 5. Fetch dvm. 36. 0 conference opportunities in San Diego, Californina, Dec. Enjoy a side of CE with your free coffee and breakfast each morning. 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