Google DeepMind is hiring Boston Dynamics’ former CTO as the company delves into robotics
Google DeepMind has it He hired the former chief technology officer of Boston Dynamics as the company delves into robotics. Aaron Saunders, who is partly responsible for giving to the world Back flip and Dancing Machines, he joined as vice president of hardware engineering earlier this month.
The appointment is a key part of DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis’ vision for Gemini to become a kind of robot operating system, similar to how Google provides its Android software to a range of smartphone manufacturers.
“You can think of it as a bit like an Android game […] “We want to build an AI system, a Gemini base, that can operate almost out of the box, across any body configuration,” Hassabis said in an interview with WIRED. “They’re obviously human, but they’re also non-human.”
Boston Dynamics is best known for developing legged robots, including four-legged systems the size of dogs and humanoid machines capable of performing impressive stunts. Saunders worked on a six-legged amphibious prototype before being promoted to vice president of engineering in 2018. He became CTO of Boston Dynamics in 2021.
Google DeepMind has produced important robotics research for years. With growing interest in more advanced robotic forms such as humanoids, its researchers are redoubling their efforts in developing artificial intelligence models to control robotic hardware systems.
Hassabis said he is excited about these developments. He explained that AI-powered robots “will have a breakthrough moment in the next couple of years, if I expect that.”
Boston Dynamics is majority owned by South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Company. Hyundai bought its stake from SoftBank, which acquired the company from Google’s parent company, Alphabet, in 2017.
The components and expertise needed to build legged robots have become more accessible in recent years. A number of US startups are now working on humanoid robots, including… Agility Robotics, Figure AI, 1xAnd of course Tesla. Elon Musk recently said that his company aims to produce one million Optimus humanoids over the next decade.
Chinese companies are also making strides in robotics, and compared to the United States, they offer machines that are remarkably cheap. Unitree, based in Hangzhou, China, recently outperformed Boston Dynamics Largest supplier of four-legged systems For industries such as manufacturing and construction.
Hassabis admits he’s a fan of Unitree, but says his focus is on software. “I’m more interested in… [AI] “The brain is part of it,” he says, adding that the multimodal capabilities of Google DeepMind’s groundbreaking Gemini model are well-suited to robotics.