Why Google Is Selling Off Some of the Coolest Robots Ever Built

You probably saw a video showing the latest humanoid creation from Boston Dynamics picking up boxes and staggering gamely through the woods. Impressive though those feats are, it seems they may no longer fit with Google's new vision for its robotics research, as Bloomberg is reporting that the subsidiary is to be sold off. After going on something of a robotics-company spending spree in 2014, Google's robotics research project suffered from the departure of the original leader and the man behind Android, Andy Rubin, as well his replacement, James Kuffner. Rumors have been swirling for some time about other departures and a general lack of direction, so it wasn't surprising to see the robotics project reorganized and brought into Google X as part of the company's rebirth as Alphabet. Perhaps it seems surprising that one of Google's most spectacular robotics efforts should be cut loose. According to the Bloomberg story, negative press about robots taking jobs may have played some part in the decision to let the company go.