Boston Dynamics sells to Hyundai Motor Group in a $ 1.1 billion deal

Fresh to sell ARM to Nvidia For $ 40 billion, SoftBank is once again divesting itself from a flashy company. This time Boston Dynamics, the modern robotics company, sells to Hyundai Motor Group. Hyundai acquires an 80 percent stake in Boston Dynamics in a deal valued at $ 1.1 billion. Softbank will retain a 20 percent stake.

Boston Dynamics spun off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a private company in 1992 and has long continued under military contracts. The company became famous by sharing its works Her YouTube channelBest Sci-Fi robot shots will reliably spread. Google bought Boston Dynamics In 2013 with a plan to build a robotics division, but like Google You won’tShe lost interest in robots and decided to sell the company Softbank In 2017. Softbank had a shorter relationship with Boston Dynamics than Google, and was forced to sell the company after its investment in UberThe WeWork Dead now OneWeb satellite broadband service provider. Hopefully, this sale means Boson Dynamics has finally found a stable home.

Hyundai Motor Group It is the second largest Korean conglomerate after Samsung, and the third largest car manufacturer in the world. Hyundai Motor Group owns Hyundai Motor Company a company-The company that actually makes Hyundai-branded cars – along with Kia Motors, Hyundai Engineering & Construction Company, and a handful of Hyundai-branded auto parts companies. So what does a car company want with a robotics company? Hyundai Motor Group’s press release describes the two companies’ technologies as “highly complementary,” and Hyundai wants to “drive the development and commercialization of advanced robots.”

Hyundai Motor Group said: “By establishing a pioneering presence in robotics, the acquisition will mark another major step for Hyundai Motor Group towards its strategic transformation into a provider of intelligent mobility solutions.” “To drive this transformation, Hyundai Motor Group has invested heavily in developing future technologies, including in areas such as autonomous technology, connectivity, environmentally friendly vehicles, smart factories, advanced materials, artificial intelligence, and robotics.”

This is not the first time Hyundai Motor Group has entered into the field of robotics. Hyundai’s Robotics Laboratory has experimented with a range of exoskeletons such as the H-MEX, the Hyundai Medical External Structure, The “medical” version is designed to help paraplegics walk again, while the other variants are designed to lift heavy loads. Note that the “Robotics Lab of Hyundai” is a different group Hyundai robotsOwned by Hyundai Heavy Industries, Which is a shipbuilding company separate from Hyundai Motor Group (co-founder).

Perhaps the most exciting line in the press release is that Hyundai Motor Group “will provide Boston Dynamics with a strategic partner that provides access to Hyundai Motor Group’s in-house manufacturing capacity and cost benefits arising from scale efficiencies.” If at any given time we have home robots that wash dishes or whatever, they will need to get a lot cheaper, and collaborating with one of the largest car manufacturers in the world seems like a great way to do that.

The road to profitability

When Boston Dynamics was bought by Google in 2013, it quit the military and stopped making any kind of income at all (maybe you could say the company became a full-time YouTuber?). That all changed six months ago, when it was Boston Dynamics Spot started sellingFour-legged robot, to the public for $ 74,500.

A recent report from Bloomberg It gives us a better idea of ​​Boston Dynamics’ financial statements. The report says that about 400 Spot robots have been sold, “bringing at least $ 30 million in revenue”. That’s still not enough to cover the company’s running costs, which Bloomberg said costs Softbank “in excess of $ 150 million a year,” but bear in mind that Spot has only been on sale for six months. So what’s the value of the money-losing Advanced Robotics Research firm? It depends on whom you ask. According to a Bloomberg report, SoftBank bought Boston Dynamics from Google for $ 165 million in 2017, then turned around and sold the company to Hyundai in a deal worth more than six times that value just three years later.

In terms of practical commercial uses, today’s Spot is little more than a very mobile camera, and it is being used as a quieter and more people-friendly alternative to camera drones in places that need remote monitoring. Boston Dynamics is working to add more capabilities to its robotic dog, though, in the form of an attachment arm early next year, which will allow the robot to manipulate objects and perform tasks. The company also sells ”Picking or picking‘Sighting system for robotic arms, and he is working on moving forward in the warehouse with the development of the platform clearance system Mechanical ostrich Robot called “handle”. Also under development is the impressive human-like robot Atlas (he can Make a wallpaper jump!) Although Boston Dynamics says Atlas is a “search platform.” Every other robot I’ve heard about from the company, like Wild Cat And all Military Mule Pack, Retired.

Boston Hyundynamics doesn’t look like it’s going to be boring anytime soon. The press release also states, “Over time, Hyundai Motor Group plans to expand its presence in the human robotics market with the aim of developing human-like robots for complex services such as providing care to patients in hospitals.” Please just do not close the YouTube channel.

Image list by Boston Dynamics