Google ’s purchase of bonkers robotics company Boston Dynamicsin December prompted set of paw - wringing : have a Department of Defense provider does n’t jive with many mass ’s conception of “ do n’t be evil . ” At the fourth dimension , Google said it was n’t interestedin becoming a military contractile organ , and today ’s rumor seems to reassert that : according to PopSci , Google is draw back its team from theDARPA Robotics Challenge .
https://gizmodo.com/a-closer-look-at-googles-new-robot-army-1483302945
PopSci quote an unnamed sourceinvolved in the DARPA Robotics Challenge with the news , which Google so far has n’t sustain . This takes SCHAFT , the Google - owned team that won the Robotics Challenge in December , and Boston Dynamics , the Pentagon - fund Jehovah of the ATLAS robot used by many Robotics Challenge teams , are both out of the armed services - indorse rival .
https://gizmodo.com/googles-newly-acquired-schaft-robot-walks-away-a-winne-1488119163
While the rumor is n’t confirmed , it emphatically corresponds with Google ’s earlier averment that it ’s not concerned in military contract body of work . And it takes most of the wind out of December ’s breathless prognosticating over Google ’s desire to get in to the military supplier clientele . Gizmodo has contacted Google for scuttlebutt .
And just why would n’t Google desire a slice of that pie ? Well , Brian Gerkey of the Open Source Robotics Foundations severalize PopScithat compared to Google ’s current taxation streams , the military robotics business just is n’t big enough to concern the troupe . “ Even the company these days that are selling robots to the Defense Department are looking for other grocery to deal robots to . You only ever need so many military robot in the world , and the size of it of that market pales in compare to the consumer market,”Gerkey told PopSci .
So , everyone take a deep breath . Google is n’t meet a golem ground forces to take over the globe . At least , not a automatonlike United States Army .
Update : We ’ve corrected this piece to indicate that Google is allegedly disengage its SCHAFT team from the Robotics Challenge . Boston Dynamics , which provide Robotics Challenge teams with its Atlas robot but does not itself contend , was not indicated in the original report .
Update 2 : Google responded to our asking for comment , say “ Google does n’t point out on rumor and speculation . ”
[ PopSci ]
boston dynamicsDarpaGoogleRobots
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