Google is closing in on a buyer for its Boston Dynamics robotics company, following a reported deterioration in the relationship between the two parties.
According to TechInsider sources, Japanese auto giant Toyota is in talks with Google over a deal to take Boston Dynamics off its hands.
The report says a deal isn’t complete, but claims “the ink is nearly dry.”
Talk of a deal comes after Google looked to distance itself from Boston Dynamics after it published videos of the firm’s workers bullying the humanoid Atlas robot.
That video reportedly “soured the soup” between the BD and its parent company, according to a source.
The disparity has resulted in the Boston-based company largely continuing to run its own research agenda, according to sources.
“At the end of day what I saw was a sense of us and them instead of a we — we weren’t part of Google, we were sort of a separate thing,” one former employee said.
Toyota has been buying up robotics companies lately with Cambridge-based Jaybridge Robotics coming under its control in March.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
