Hyundai has acquired robotics company Boston Dynamics from SoftBank Group for a touch under 1 trillion won ($921 million).
It is reported that Hyundai Motor will finance roughly half of the acquisition price while its affiliates, including Hyundai Mobis Co., will pay for the remainder.
Boston Dynamics came to life in 1992 when engineer Marc Raibert span the company off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The company has primarily done research and robotics work for the U.S. military and DARPA, but earlier this year, started selling its four-legged robot dog, dubbed Spot, for $75,000.
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Boston Dynamics’ work became so well known in the early 2010s that Google acquired the company, in 2013, but off-loaded it to SoftBank Group in 2017. As reported by Extreme Tech, neither Google nor SoftBank ever announced how much they paid for the company.
The purchase of Boston Dynamics by Hyundai comes in the midst of huge investments from the South Korean car manufacturer in the world of robotics. In fact, Hyundai has committed to investing up to $1.4 billion in robotics by 2025 and has already poured money in startups such as 42dot and Realtime Robotics. This is all part of the company’s ambition to establish itself as a leading mobility provider.
In October, Hyundai announced the formation of its New Horizons Studio that will build a host of futuristic vehicles with legs. The first project being developed is based on the Hyundai Elevate concept first showcased at CES in 2019.
Hyundai robot concept