Boston Dynamics acquired by Hyundai

Company behind those weird robot dogs will assist Hyundai with "mobility experiences"

By Becky Wells / Wednesday, 30 June 2021 / Loading comments

You must have seen the videos. Those creepy, yellow robot machines that kind of look like dogs. No one's really sure why they are so gross, except maybe the impending reality that everything in our life is going to one day be taken over by robots, leaving our jobs and mere existence on Earth redundant.

Well, the company behind such machines has now been acquired by Hyundai. The reasoning is to help Hyundai develop its "robotics business" to provide "exciting mobility experiences" to customers. The brand is hoping to work on such projects to bring robotics to daily life, "enabling progress for humanity." Gimmicks aside, a team of "Spot" dogs have already been despatched to workplaces around the world, helping with progress in mines, building sites, and even monitoring radiation at Chernobyl.

Previous videos of the machines show them climbing stairs or opening doors, which have been met with an uncomfortable reaction on social media. Yeah, sure, it's very cool and isn't technology great, but it is weirdly unsettling to watch. Similar to a trypophobic's fear of holes (don't know what we mean? Google it.)

To help celebrate the acquisition, Hyundai teamed up with Korean pop-sensation BTS, resulting in the robots adopting dance moves in its latest video. Still probably better than our dancing though. Apparently this will help Hyundai explore "marketing opportunities to communicate with millennials and Gen Z", so turns out we're too old for cool robots anyway.