Robot manufacturer Boston Dynamics acquired by Hyundai Motor Group

[gary]

Boston Dynamics sent out a media release confirming that Hyundai Motor
Group has acquired an 80% controlling interest in the company that values
Boston Dynamics at US $1.1 billion.

Article here :-
https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/humanoids/hyundai-buys-boston-dynamics

[glend]

Hmm, Elon Musk was interested. Musk had a Boston Robotics robot sniffer dog (named Zeus) onsite at the Boca Chica launch pad, used to inspect ships after landing and detect methane. There are videos of it walking around the pad. It even had its own for house with recharge port.
Robots are likely to be used to build Mars colony habitat, and other uses in space exploration.

I find it odd that a US tech company is being sold to a foreign entity, given the US has been paranoid about its home grown tech popping up in Chinese copies. Is there not a US equivalent to our Foreign Investment Review Board? I realise Hyundai is South Korean, but is that an impediment to Chinese espionage? Might be easier for them.

[DarkArts]

Boston Dynamics has been tossed around abit:



BD hasn't really made much money. Despite the spectacle and significant long-term potential, the market for independent robots is not yet large (when you can pay third-world/Uber/Amazon/etc. prices for labour) and the R&D has been costly, driving high prices (https://medium.com/swlh/this-86-year-old-game-theory-explains-why-boston-dynamics-will-fail-634c99ca1e7e). Maybe Hyundai will focus on more practical applications.

There are other robot companies offering cheaper products. The Australian Army is trialling robot dogs (https://www.forbes.com/sites/kelseyatherton/2020/04/16/do-robot-dogs-dream-of-australian-warfare/?sh=7d9d961d44b3), but they're from a different vendor (Ghost Robotics).

[cannon_gray]

I heard that now Australia is going to cooperate with NASA in the Artemis mission. Australia is slated to provide technologies in the areas of robotics, automation, and remote asset management similar to those currently being used in the Australian mining industry.