Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL.US) is reincorporating its robotics software firm Intrinsic, originally part of its "moonshot" initiatives, back into its core operations. This move signals the tech giant's effort to streamline its strategic focus within the robotics sector. After being incubated for five and a half years under Alphabet's "moonshot factory" X project, Intrinsic became an independent subsidiary under Alphabet's "Other Bets" segment in July 2021. The company announced on Wednesday that Intrinsic will now be merged back into Alphabet.
While hardware costs for components like robotic arms continue to decline, robot programming remains highly complex, often requiring specialized engineers to spend hundreds of hours manually coding. Additionally, development logic varies significantly across different robot models. Intrinsic's core product, Flowstate, is a web-based platform that enables users to build robotic applications without writing thousands of lines of code.
In its announcement, Intrinsic stated: "By joining Alphabet, we will be able to consolidate our strengths and collaborate on cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives spanning research, deployment, and daily operations, thereby advancing industrial applications in manufacturing and logistics." The announcement also noted that the platform will integrate with the Gemini model and Google Cloud technologies, working closely with Google DeepMind.
This integration elevates the software platform to a core component of Alphabet's enterprise-level strategy, enhancing its ability to compete with rivals such as Amazon.com (AMZN.US) and Tesla Motors (TSLA.US). It also indicates that with deeper collaboration with Alphabet's AI teams, the company is prepared to scale its product offerings for broader implementation.
In November of last year, Intrinsic announced a partnership with Foxconn, a supplier to NVIDIA (NVDA.US), planning to deploy AI robots in Foxconn's U.S. factories for electronics assembly. Intrinsic CEO Wendy Tan White stated in Wednesday's announcement that leveraging Alphabet's AI technology and infrastructure will "unlock the potential of physical AI, benefiting a wider range of manufacturing businesses and developers."
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