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> The sale came about in part because of the reputation Boston Dynamics had developed for making robots that were too creepy for the general public. Is this re

> The sale came about in part because of the reputation Boston Dynamics had developed for making robots that were too creepy for the general public. Is this really true? Because this sounds like a stupid reason, even in part, to make a sale.

kristofferR 9y ago
Have Google sold off their whole Glass division too?
vosper 9y ago
I thought it was less about "creepy" and more about the military aspect. It's hard to "don't be evil" when you have a subsidiary building what people were describing (hyperbolically) as some kind of precursor to the Terminator. If they put some big anime eyes and a cute tail on the new one, rather than an empty face place, it'd probably go down just fine. Edit: Boston Dynamics also didn't help themselves with the "dog kicking" video. It (sort of) looks like a dog, and people were kicking it (well, not really, they were pushing it with their feet to show it good it was at balance). Obviously it's just a machine, but a lot of people saw some dudes kicking a dog.
- Aron 9y ago
  My memory of this was that Google PR thought that humanoid robots might end up leading to associations with automation and job destruction. Also, it was never clear to me how much influence the PR position had vs. other reasons.
- molmalo 9y ago
  There was also a big internal fight because Google thought the future robots should use wheels, but the engineers at Boston dynamics wanted to keep betting on legs. An hybrid was made that was awesome [1], but I think that in the end, both companies had a different vision for what they wanted to build. [1]
  - kurthr 9y ago
    I think you mean this one... Handle Robot. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP_NCB3KkiY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP_NCB3KkiY It is impressive, especially the jumps, lifts, and spins.
    - molmalo 9y ago
      Ups, yeah, I forgot to paste the link, Thanks!
jackcnreturns 9y ago
It's exaggerated/false reporting. In 2015 Google was in the process of cleaning up its finances. The sale of Boston Dynamics really came from BD executives and Google execs clashing over the future direction of the company where one party wanted to continue from a more pure R&D direction, while the other wanted a path to revenue/profitability in < 5 years. Not having come to an agreement Google/Alphabet put up BD for sale.

kristofferR 9y ago

Have Google sold off their whole Glass division too?

vosper 9y ago

I thought it was less about "creepy" and more about the military aspect. It's hard to "don't be evil" when you have a subsidiary building what people were describing (hyperbolically) as some kind of precursor to the Terminator. If they put some big anime eyes and a cute tail on the new one, rather than an empty face place, it'd probably go down just fine. Edit: Boston Dynamics also didn't help themselves with the "dog kicking" video. It (sort of) looks like a dog, and people were kicking it (well, not really, they were pushing it with their feet to show it good it was at balance). Obviously it's just a machine, but a lot of people saw some dudes kicking a dog.

Aron 9y ago
My memory of this was that Google PR thought that humanoid robots might end up leading to associations with automation and job destruction. Also, it was never clear to me how much influence the PR position had vs. other reasons.
molmalo 9y ago
There was also a big internal fight because Google thought the future robots should use wheels, but the engineers at Boston dynamics wanted to keep betting on legs. An hybrid was made that was awesome [1], but I think that in the end, both companies had a different vision for what they wanted to build. [1]
- kurthr 9y ago
  I think you mean this one... Handle Robot. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP_NCB3KkiY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP_NCB3KkiY It is impressive, especially the jumps, lifts, and spins.
  - molmalo 9y ago
    Ups, yeah, I forgot to paste the link, Thanks!

jackcnreturns 9y ago

It's exaggerated/false reporting. In 2015 Google was in the process of cleaning up its finances. The sale of Boston Dynamics really came from BD executives and Google execs clashing over the future direction of the company where one party wanted to continue from a more pure R&D direction, while the other wanted a path to revenue/profitability in < 5 years. Not having come to an agreement Google/Alphabet put up BD for sale.