Hyundai buys innovative robotics company Boston Dynamics

Hyundai has completed its acquisition of the innovative robotics company Boston Dynamics, Report informs referring to Tech Crunch.

The deal, which values the company at $1.1 billion, was announced in late-2020. The companies have not disclosed any future financial details.

The purchase sees Hyundai pick up an 80 percent controlling stake in the company, with the previous owner, Softbank, retaining 20 percent ownership.

The South Korean automotive giant now owns a controlling interest in Boston Dynamics, previously belonging to SoftBank. The Japanese investment company was effectively a transitional owner, purchasing Boston Dynamics from Google, which owned the company for just over three years.

While its time with Softbank wasn’t much longer than its stint under Google/Alphabet X, Boston Dynamics saw the commercialization of its first two products since launching nearly 30 years ago. The company brought its quadrupedal robot Spot to market and this year announced the (still upcoming) launch of Stretch, an updated version of its warehouse robot, Handle.