Amazon among the possible buyers as Google seeks to offload robotics division

Google is looking to sell its robotics division - and one of the buyers thought to be in the frame is Amazon. Despite impressive breakthroughs from Boston Dynamics, Google’s parent company Alphabet is understood to be looking to offload it. Executives at Alphabet “concluded that Boston Dynamics isn’t likely to produce a marketable product in the next few years”. Several financial websites have quoted unnamed Amazon sources saying they would potentially be interested in buying the division.

We as a start-up cannot spend 30% of our resources on things that take 10 years.

Memo from head of Alphabet’s robotics division, Jonathan Rosenberg

Boston Dynamics - bought by Google in last 2013 - is best-known for its human-sized robot Atlas and its four-legged dog robot. However, Atlas struggled at a recent robotics competition when it fell over and needed a crane to get back up. But a more recent video showed an improved Atlas being pushed over and getting up again, as well as navigating rough terrain, with ease. It was also shown loading up boxes onto shelves, a function that may have caught the eye of online retailer Amazon.

There’s excitement from the tech press, but we’re also starting to see some negative threads about it being terrifying, ready to take humans’ jobs.

Courtney Hohne, director of communications at Google

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