Japanese multinational SoftBank will be acquiring Alphabet’s Boston Dynamics and SCHAFT robotics divisions. As of now, the terms of the agreement between Alphabet and SoftBank have not been disclosed.
Back in March, word got out that Alphabet, Google’s parent company, was thinking of off-loading its 2013 robotics firm acquisition, Boston Dynamics. Now, it appears that Japanese multinational SoftBank — which last year bought chip maker ARM — will be coming to its rescue.
According to TechCrunch, a spokesperson for the company has confirmed that indeed Boston Dynamics, along with Japanese firm SCHAFT will be acquired in a deal whose terms are not being disclosed.
Regarding the acquisition, Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp. said:
The pursuit towards perfecting robotics is quite noticeable in Japan, so this acquisition makes a whole lot of sense for SoftBank, especially in light of the aforementioned ARM buyout. That said, it’s still not clear exactly what the Japanese behemoth’s motivation for the deal were, due to the secretive nature of both Boston Dynamics and especially SCHAFT’s projects.
Source: TechCrunch
