Hyundai To Acquire Boston Dynamics For Nearly $1 Billion

According to The Robot Report, citing The Korea Economic Daily, Hyndai will finalize its acquisition of Boston Dynamics on December 10th. A source familiar with the deal said the acquisition is for about $1 billion. From the report: Robotics has become a bigger focus for Hyundai since Chung Euisun was named chairman in October. The company has since said robotics will account for 20% of its future business. Hyundai Robotics was founded in 2017, but it officially launched earlier in 2020. The company's automotive group invested in autonomous vehicle startup 42dot and Realtime Robotics in 2019. Hyundai has also created a $4 billion autonomous vehicle joint venture with Aptiv. It is not yet clear how Boston Dynamics will fit into Hyundai, which becomes the third owner of Boston Dynamics in seven years. It was acquired by Google in 2013 and sold to Softbank Group in 2017. The RBR50 company has mainly operated as an R&D organization since it was founded. But a new emphasis on commercialization was evident after it was acquired by Softbank.

Is it still good?

[AndyKron]

Doesn't a company lose its magic after the 3rd owner?

Re:

[cusco]

At least this owner knows how to make things, unlike SoftBank

Re:

[infolation]

Plus when the 'Deranged Robot Dogs Take Over The World' disaster movie comes out, it will be scarier if it's Korean.

Re:

[kot-begemot-uk]

You do not need magic for defence contracts, just the opposite.

South Korea has a major issue with manpower versus its Northern neighbour. As a result it has been investing in mechanised guns, robotic defence positions, etc for ages. The problem with all of those is that they are static and the norks have them painted for their artillery. This changes the game

The next Boston Dynamics Big Dog will carry an autocannon. Dogs of War (the A. TChaikovski book) - here we come.

Re:

[thegarbz]

It's only just starting to get good. Boston Dynamics has actually got a product now, and stopped being a quickly research company that does nothing other than produce cool Youtube videos reminding us how close Judgement Day really is.

Sales

[phantomfive]

Whoever their CEO is, they are really good at getting corporate funding.

Re: Sales

[RightwingNutjob]

They've had a great big sugar daddy in the form of DARPA for something like 20 years now.

Only a billion!?

[greytree]

While Peloton are "worth" 36 billion?!

Re:

[sonofusion82]

yeah, unfortunately hardcore science and tech companies are usually valuated less than consumer popular companies are worth much more. ARM holdings is only about 32 billion while TikTok is 75 billion!!!

Re:

[yagmot]

Stock markets are entirely irrational, and mosts financial analysts suck at their jobs. Every time you read "company X missed wall street expectations" you're actually reading about an analyst's fuckup.

Spot doesn't like it

[nospam007]

...and he's a good boy.

Daft Punk

[Anonymouse Cowtard]

They should put Daft Punk in charge of the new acquisition. Who wouldn't want a dancing robot for Xmas, I mean come on!?

Hope it doesn't start with DMZ K9s

[mattr]

It would be cool to see what they come up with. Something for ordinary consumers and businesses would be great. Though something tells me the DMZ may gain some K9 patrols..

See SPOT run

[carbonUnit42]

Based on my experience with my last Hyundai vehicle, the dog robot, SPOT, will use up its batteries by chasing its tail.