Update Friday 11 December: As per an official Hyundai press release, the South Korean company and SoftBank Group agreed today on the main terms of the transaction. Hyundai Motor "will acquire a controlling interest in Boston Dynamics in a deal that values the mobile robot firm at $1.1 billion," read the statement. The exact financial terms were not disclosed, but the deal will bring Hyundai Motor's mobility expertise into the world of robotics technologies. This move brings Hyundai Motors one step closer to its vision of transforming into a Smart Mobility Solution Provider. "We are delighted to have Boston Dynamics, a world leader in mobile robots, join the Hyundai team. This transaction will unite capabilities of Hyundai Motor Group and Boston Dynamics to spearhead innovation in future mobility," stated Euisun Chung, Chairman of Hyundai Motor.

Boston Dynamics, the robotics company behind nightmare-fuel products like Spot, may be headed to Hyundai, Bloomberg reports. Sources say that current owner Softbank is in talks with the Korean automaker. The deal could be worth up to $1 billion, though Bloomberg notes that nothing is finalized yet, and the deal could eventually fall apart. Hyundai may seem like a surprising parent at first if you're only familiar with its cars, but the company also has an entire group focused on industrial robotics, where Boston Dynamics' technology would fit nicely. And Hyundai is no stranger to diving into burgeoning technology -- it just announced its New Horizons Studio for futuristic concepts.

Researchers from the University of Bath have developed technology that would allow people to digitise their dogs. Such an application could be used for a number of purposes, such as assisting vets in diagnosing issues walking and monitoring their recovery. It could also be used for more entertaining reasons, such as putting digital representations of dogs into movies and video games – without constant use of motion capture suits or expensive equipment. Computer scientists digitised the movement of 14 different breeds of dog, including lurchers and pugs, who were residents of the local animal shelter. The motion capture suits, made especially for dogs, were filmed doing a range of movements as part of their activities.

We've seen Boston Dynamics' four-legged robotic dog Spot help triage patients with COVID-19, pull a rickshaw, hold the door for a fellow bot, haul a box truck, herd sheep and more. Until now, Spot was only available as a short-term lease under Boston Dynamics' Early Adopter Program, but that is changing. Businesses in the United States can now buy their very own Spot robots. Spot is meant for commercial and industrial use, and orders are subject to Boston Dynamics' terms, which require "beneficial use" of the robots. That may quell some fears about a robot takeover.

Demiurge Technologies AG, a Swiss startup that works on artificial intelligence, says it's interested in acquiring Boston Dynamics, the Waltham robot maker put on the auction block last week by Alphabet Inc., parent company of Google. "We are pursuing an acquisition of Boston Dynamics to develop a new Robot Operating System (ROS) based on Demiurge's next generation of deep neural networks exclusively for physical mobile robots," said a statement issued by Demiurge. Little more is known about Demiurge. According to information on the company's website, it was launched last May with 9.5 million in angel and venture funding. Investors include Vantone Holdings and Hongdao Capital.