Google acquires Boston Dynamics

Background

Boston Dynamics was founded in 1992 by Marc Raibert, a former MIT professor. Before the acquisition, the company had worked largely for Pentagon customers, among them DARPA, the U.S. defense agency that funds advanced research projects^[1]. At the time of the deal it did not sell robots commercially, so its machines were not products on a consumer or industrial market^[1].

The deal

In December 2013, Google confirmed that it had completed its acquisition of Boston Dynamics^[1]. The purchase was the eighth robotics company Google had acquired in the previous six months^[1][2]. CNET listed the seven earlier acquisitions as Autofuss, Bot & Dolly, Holomni, Industrial Perception, Meka, Redwood Robotics and Schaft^[2]. Google declined to disclose the purchase price to The New York Times^[2], so the financial terms of the deal were never made public.

Who was running it

Google's robotics effort was led by Andy Rubin, who had previously led the Android team^[1][2]. Rubin was therefore the executive associated with a stretch of acquisitions that, taken together, brought eight robotics companies into Google inside half a year^[1][2]. Boston Dynamics was the last of that run to be confirmed.

Military work

Because Boston Dynamics had built its business on Pentagon customers including DARPA^[1], the acquisition raised the question of what Google would do with contracts already on the books. Google said it would honour existing military contracts but did not plan to become a military contractor^[2]. That statement separated the obligations the company had taken on with the acquisition from any intention to take new defense work.

What the deal did and did not change

For Boston Dynamics itself, the acquisition did not turn an existing product line into a commercial one: the company did not sell robots commercially when Google bought it^[1]. What changed was ownership and the setting in which its research was done — from a company working largely for defense customers to a unit of a firm whose robotics programme was run by the former head of Android^[1][2].

Seen from Google's side, the purchase is best read as the closing item on a list. Seven robotics companies had already been bought in the preceding six months, among them Autofuss, Bot & Dolly, Holomni, Industrial Perception, Meka, Redwood Robotics and Schaft^[2], and Boston Dynamics was the eighth^[1][2]. The price was not disclosed^[2], and the defence contracts the company brought with it were to be honoured rather than expanded^[2].