Hyundai acquires robotics company Boston Dynamics

Hyundai has completed its acquisition of a controlling interest in Boston Dynamics – a cutting-edge robotics firm based in the US.

It means Hyundai now takes an 80 per cent share of the US$1.1 billion (AU$1.4bn) tech company – and it’s likely to have long-term benefits for the group’s automotive business.

Boston Dynamics is one of the most well-known robotics firms in the world, and videos of its anthropomorphic creations continue to go viral. If you’ve seen a quadrupedal machine trotting or demonstrating balance, chances are you’re looking at the work of Boston Dynamics.

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Boston Dynamics might not seem like an obvious choice for Hyundai, but robotics and particularly AI is becoming increasingly relevant to the automotive industry – both in production and vehicles on the road.

“We are delighted to have Boston Dynamics, a world leader in mobile robots, join the Hyundai team. This transaction will unite capabilities of Hyundai Motor Group and Boston Dynamics to spearhead innovation in future mobility,” said the Hyundai CEO Euisun Chung.

“We will also contribute to the society by enhancing its safety, security, public health amid global trends of an ageing [population] and digital transformation.”

For the last few years, the Korean carmaker has invested in connectivity, autonomous tech and AI – and the company also unveiled a new electric platform just days ago.

Called E-GMP, the new platform is all about increasing the speed of manufacture and reducing the cost per unit.

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Boston Dynamics’s expertise could certainly help with the latter; its robots can be equipped with perception, navigation and intelligence.

The benefits for Boston Dynamics are less tangible but partnering up with the automaker should allow the company to fast track its tech into a much larger environment, and also speed up the path from R&D to commercialisation. For example, the manufacturing weight of Hyundai will be invaluable in accelerating the deployment of humanoid robots in hospitals.

The marque is also making strides in Human Robot Interaction (HRI) which directly involves Boston’s research.

Originally published by Car Magazine.