Could someone explain why this acquisition makes sense? The core competencies between the two companies seem to have little overlap from my outsider perspective. Is this diversification or does Hyundai make more than automobiles?
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Hyundai to acquire Boston Dynamics
61–70 of 257 posts
Re: Hyundai to acquire Boston Dynamics
#62Boston Dynamics is such a hyped company, yet it constantly gets shoveled from one mega corp to another...Does it mean none of those companies see a profitable future with it?
Word has it Marc Raibert is not the easiest person to work with as an acquiring company, in a sense that he will keep control of the company, and do whatever he wants with it.
Good for him, I think.
Re: Hyundai to acquire Boston Dynamics
#63Boston Dynamics is such a hyped company, yet it constantly gets shoveled from one mega corp to another...Does it mean none of those companies see a profitable future with it?
Word has it Marc Raibert is not the easiest person to work with as an acquiring company, in a sense that he will keep control of the company, and do whatever he wants with it. Good for him, I think.
Doing what you want works until the money runs out.
Re: Hyundai to acquire Boston Dynamics
#64Boston Dynamics is such a hyped company, yet it constantly gets shoveled from one mega corp to another...Does it mean none of those companies see a profitable future with it?
Word has it Marc Raibert is not the easiest person to work with as an acquiring company, in a sense that he will keep control of the company, and do whatever he wants with it. Good for him, I think.
Marc is no longer CEO
Re: Hyundai to acquire Boston Dynamics
#65Boston Dynamics is such a hyped company, yet it constantly gets shoveled from one mega corp to another...Does it mean none of those companies see a profitable future with it?
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Re: Hyundai to acquire Boston Dynamics
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
What reason would there be to disallow it?
ITAR or even classified The robots are practically weapons. Imagine the 4-legged one chasing you down like a large cat could, then pouncing on you. Imagine the 2-legged one with armor, relentlessly stalking you like Terminator.
Imagine getting blown up by a guided missile launched from a largely automated aircraft.
Re: Hyundai to acquire Boston Dynamics
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
We spend way more in software (also online services) than in hardware.
Do cars count as hardware? People spend a lot on those.
People spend a small amount of money on the hardware of a car, then spend a lot of money on the luxurious comfort and prestige upgrades.
Boston Dynamics makes utility robots that are cool from an engineering standpoint but not super useful (or even welcome) in someone's home. Hyundai makes a lot of sense, since these expensive-but-handy robots will fit in well with their other industrial robots and military equipment.
Re: Hyundai to acquire Boston Dynamics
#68Sounds like a quite low valuation...?
On what basis?
I'm not disagreeing, but BD doesn't really have a business. There isn't even really an industry/market for these kind of robots.
How do you value an R&D lab? A billion dollars is still a lot of money.
Re: Hyundai to acquire Boston Dynamics
#69Wow. That's a good exit.
Hyundai builds real things in quantity. This could work out.
Re: Hyundai to acquire Boston Dynamics
#70> In April 2019, Boston Dynamics acquired Kinema Systems, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based startup that uses vision sensors and deep learning to help robots manipulate boxes. Kinema’s Pick system was rebranded as the Boston Dynamics Pick System. It was the company’s first commercialized product.
Interesting, I thought Spot was the first commercial product BD sold. But the Pick System seems like it would be much more viable for commercial application and adaption.
Particularly when combined with Hyundai's experience and presence in manufacturing, construction, healthcare [0] and even logistics [1] automation.
[0] https://control.com/news/a-look-into-hyundai-robotics-latest...
[1] https://www.supplychaindigital.com/technology/hyundai-improv...