In this Thursday, May 24, 2018, photo, Boston Dynamics founder and CEO Marc Raibert smiles as he responds to a question during a robotics summit in Boston. (Charles Krupa\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nBoston Dynamics said only it believes a quarter-century of work on robots will \u201cunlock a very high commercial value.\u201d It did not answer when asked if it ever entertained proposals to weaponize them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building robots that can jump, gallop or prowl like animals was a fringe field of engineering when Raibert and his colleagues began studying kangaroo and ostrich videos in their Carnegie Mellon University research lab nearly 40 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But agile robots aren\u2019t so sci-fi anymore, even if they can still seem that way. Boston Dynamics\u2019 Atlas robot, for instance, is a hulking humanoid machine that can be seen hiking across broken ground, jumping onto pedestals, and even performing an ungainly backflip . (The company\u2019s robot videos have not been independently verified.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In videos, the company\u2019s robots wander through a variety of locales \u2014 in and around the company\u2019s single-story headquarters, a New Hampshire ski lodge and across the secluded meadows and woodlands near Raibert\u2019s home. In some videos, humans kick the robots or jab them with hockey sticks to test their balance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Michael Cheponis, who worked with Raibert at CMU\u2019s pioneering robot laboratory in the 1980s, calls his former colleague an \u201cAmerican hero\u201d for sticking with a vision that could prove useful to the world. \u201cMarc doesn\u2019t have the slightest Dr. Evil in him,\u201d Cheponis said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The defense contracts began winding down in 2013 when Google bought Boston Dynamics and made clear it wanted no part in defense work. Andy Rubin, then Google\u2019s chief robotics executive and architect of the acquisition, swept into the firm\u2019s lunchroom to give a pep talk to employees shortly after the deal was announced in December 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Attendees later said they felt a sense of relief and cautious optimism. \u201cHe was talking about really ambitious goals,\u201d said one former employee, who asked not to be identified because of concerns it could hurt career opportunities in the small and tight-knit U.S. robotics community. \u201cA robot that might be able to help the elderly and infirm. Robots that work in grocery stores. Robots that deliver packages.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the Google honeymoon soon soured. Rubin left the company the following year and his replacements overseeing Boston Dynamics grew increasingly frustrated with Raibert\u2019s approach, according to several people familiar with the transition. Among the concerns: Boston Dynamics\u2019 lack of focus on building a sellable product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Google also grew concerned that \u201cnegative threads\u201d on social media about the firm\u2019s \u201cterrifying\u201d robot videos could hurt its image, according to leaked emails from its public relations division obtained by Bloomberg in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inside the company, the idea that its robots could be turned into weapons occasionally inspired casual workplace chatter, chuckles or discomfort, several former employees said. But few took it seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey\u2019re definitely aware that people are frightened by them,\u201d said Andrew String, a former Boston Dynamics engineer. \u201cThe company regularly gets hate mail and other weird stuff.\u201d But he said Raibert never felt a need to explain himself, and instead wanted the technology to speak for itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By 2016, Google was looking to sell the firm \u2014 eventually finding an interested buyer in Japanese tech giant SoftBank, which already has a robotics portfolio that includes the cute humanoid Pepper. The deal closed earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SoftBank declined to say anything about its plans, but Boston Dynamics\u2019 latest job postings reveal a heightened emphasis on finding something that sells. One posting seeks a \u201crobot evangelist\u201d to help find \u201cmarket-driven\u201d applications for the machines in logistics, construction and commercial security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Raibert credited Google for pushing the firm forward to perform the \u201cbest work we ever did,\u201d but said under SoftBank his team is acting as a \u201cstandalone company\u201d again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have a very strong plan,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re all digging in and working hard on it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n