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Hyundai acquires controlling stake in Boston Dynamics for $880M

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Re: Hyundai acquires controlling stake in Boston Dynamics for $880M

#101

Post by echelon »

jcims wrote: post #87
accurrent wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who has worked with both Unitree and Boston Dynamics I can tell you there is a marked difference in the ability for Boston dynamic's ability to walk vs Unitree's. The ANYMal is closer to Boston Dynamic's capabilities but also at a similar price point. That being said what Unitree is lacking is good software so theres a chance that they may be able to incrementally catch up while maintaining a relatively lo…

You can see this in the Unitree videos, nearly everything is on a flat plane and while it was a video from 2019 it seemed to struggle climbing stairs a bit.

But they'll sell at a higher volume and be able to reinvest in R&D. Boston Dynamics needed constant injection of capital.

Re: Hyundai acquires controlling stake in Boston Dynamics for $880M

#102

Post by unabridged »

mrweasel wrote: post #19

Normally tech companies tend to be overpriced, but $880M for 80% of Boston Dynamics (total value of $1.1 billion), doesn't that seem a little low? Other tech companies can seemingly lose millions, as long as there's an advertising or data-mining angle to the product. Because Boston Dynamics aim to actually create physical products they then get valued lower?

This is an extremely low valuation for how famous BD is. They could have gone public and sold 10-20% of their stock for $1B.

Re: Hyundai acquires controlling stake in Boston Dynamics for $880M

#103

Post by eloff »

LinuxBender wrote: post #57
nly wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Robots that build cars seem most likely? Not sure how many staff your average car factory has, but due to sheer product complexity it's still more than other industries like food manufacturing. Maybe we'll see vast car factories, churning out thousands of cars per day, with only a half dozen staff in years to come?

Maybe. Another possible variant on that idea could be micro-factories [1] that address delivery constraints and allow a factory to be located anywhere there is a small warehouse. [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_Qyor9Yc-s

Seems that would be a supply chain nightmare, plus it would multiply capital costs. I doubt it's worth it.

Re: Hyundai acquires controlling stake in Boston Dynamics for $880M

#104

Post by deelowe »

nly wrote: post #39
weego wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Robots already build cars, and supply of new cars is often out-stripped by demand. It's not really new ground. The limitations in car production are always the component supply chain, not the actual manufacture.

Google image search "car factory" and it's super obviously it's quite labour intensive. I'm not sure why an investment in robots has to be "new ground".

You're using the wrong terms. Add "advanced manufacturing" to the query to get some idea of the current state of things. I toured a new automotive plant over 10 years ago and up until the final configuration stage, the only manual labor was cabling and quality control. This included sheet metal unloading and delivery (from rail), stamping of the chassis, welding, paint, installation of doors, hood, suspension, etc, powertrain installation, and many others. From my estimate, 2/3 of the factory was very close to being "lights out." The entire welding and paint process was fully automated and required a line stop to enter the area.

Re: Hyundai acquires controlling stake in Boston Dynamics for $880M

#106

Post by nr2x »

TameAntelope wrote: post #97
nr2x wrote: post #67

Seems like they’d be a good fit for Disney, making theme park attractions.

I'd be a little sad if this technology only ended up being useful as a toy, but then again the biggest disruptors are at one point thought of as toys, so maybe that's about where we are in the process?

If they monetized their YouTube channel I’m guessing it would be their biggest revenue source, as far as I’m concerned they are an entertainment company already.

Re: Hyundai acquires controlling stake in Boston Dynamics for $880M

#108

Post by whatshisface »

thingsgoup wrote: post #41
justicezyx wrote: post #2

Good move. I think the next step of mobility is a mobile robot. The cars of the future should be a central hub for move people between places, but able to do a lot more through physical manipulation, instead of becoming a enlarged mobile information terminal. Thus, developing cars as robots are going to be more useful in that future. I personally will invest time in building products that are mobility robots, not car…

Riding a robot horse could be fun! Such a thing would likely have an easier time navigating complicated terrain than any vehicle with wheels.

Almost as fun as riding a real horse and only several thousand times more expensive!

Re: Hyundai acquires controlling stake in Boston Dynamics for $880M

#109

Post by whymauri »

vibrio wrote: post #77
blamazon wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“DARPA Awards Moderna Therapeutics a Grant for up to $25 Million to Develop Messenger RNA Therapeutics” (2013) https://investors.modernatx.com/news-releases/news-release-d...

I believe DARPA is a national treasure, and has driven a ton of otherwise neglected innovation, but let's not overstate their contribution to Moderna. For exsmple, AstraZeneca did a deal with Moderna including a $240MM upfront to another $180MM for potential milestones six months before the DARPA money. That is all on top of a pile of venture money and other corporate deals over those few years. The value of the DARP…

>For exsmple, AstraZeneca did a deal with Moderna including a $240MM upfront to another $180MM for potential milestones six months before the DARPA money.

This is called "biobucks" in the industry. There's an incentive to close big deals for management and business types in biotech, so they love to craft these large headlines to drop it on their resume and grift at another big pharma.

I'd be surprised if they ever received the $180MM, although $240MM upfront is really impressive.

Re: Hyundai acquires controlling stake in Boston Dynamics for $880M

#110

Post by gmadsen »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #42
eric4smith wrote: post #24

These are one of the few times I can say that I don't care if Boston Dynamics are making money as yet. Boston Dynamics are one of the few real serious players in the robotics space worldwide doing deep R&D. Hyundai are basically paying for the BD Labs research. And they are well positioned to reap the products and techniques from the lab with their own manufacturing and engineering prowess and experience over the nex…

Great for Hyundai. Not such a good ROI for the taxpayers who kept BD afloat with decades of DARPA funding.

DARPA basically started the self driving industry
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