Last September, Alphabet X-born Passive made its Big debut. With a software-first approach, the subsidiary hopes to build on the parent company’s stellar steam robotics track record.
The startup is specifically seeking to make manufacturing robots smarter, an idea that is expected to thrill many in the industry given the pandemic’s increased desire for automation.
It announced its second major development today: a purchase. Vicarious, a robotics/AI business, is being acquired by Intri Internal.
The firm, situated in the Bay Area, has been active for more than a decade and has raised $250 million from prominent names like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Samsung. “A turnkey robotic solution integrator that leverages AI to handle operations that are too complicated and flexible for traditional automation,” the business says. Typical warehouse and logistics operations such as loading, unloading, picking, and packing are included.
New CEO Scott Phoenix will join the board of directors, while a small team from Vicarious, led by CTO Dileep George, will join the DeepMind team.
CEO Wendy Tan-White stated in the initial Intrinsic announcement article that the firm has collaborated with teams throughout Alphabet, which is absolutely true in this situation.
In a blog post, Tan-White wrote, “For over a decade, Vicarious has pushed the limits of intelligent robots and AI across several sectors with visionary customers, developing a multidisciplinary team and distinctive culture in the process.”
“We feel that pooling our resources will enable us to tackle industry challenges more quickly and achieve our common goal.”
Since its start, Intrinsic has kept a low profile, preferring to focus on developing tech pilots with real-world manufacturing businesses.
That is likely to remain the case, given the statement contains no more details on the deal. More information will be released “in the coming months,” according to Tan-White.
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