Google’s parent company Alphabet to sell robot-maker Boston Dynamics

Alphabet puts Boston Dynamics up for sale as it won’t produce marketable products

The robot-maker Boston Dynamics, famed for its fast-running cheetah and advanced humanoid robots, is to be put up for sale by Alphabet, the parent company of Google.

Media reports said that the newly formed parent company Alphabet has been in the process of analysing the profitability of its umbrella companies and has determined Boston Dynamics will not have marketable products in the next few years, prompting the decision to sell the company. 

It has been suggested that a contributing factor to the sale is the negative public perception of the advanced humanoid robots the firm has been developing, with recent videos of its bi-pedal robot walking on snow, able to pick up boxes and regain its balance when pushed over causing a stir on the internet. Google and Boston Dynamics declined to comment. 

Potential buyers include Toyota Research Institute – a division of Toyota Motor Corp – and Amazon.com, according to reports.

At the time of writing, neither company was available for comment.

Boston Dynamics was purchased by Google in late 2013, but reports of issues with multiple leadership changes and frictions caused by its reluctance to integrate with other robotics engineering departments within the Alphabet umbrella are also being blamed for the decision.