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Hyundai just bought Boston Dynamics so it can start replacing us with robots

Hyundai’s vision for the future includes more robots and less people.

boston dynamics robot and hyundai vehicle
Image: Hyundai

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Boston Dynamics, the company that develops dystopian robot dogs to unleash on the world, has been bought by Hyundai. Earlier this week, Hyundai purchased 80% of Boston Dynamics from Softbank, valuing the company at $1.1 billion.

Hyundai posted a press release to its website earlier this week, detailing the company’s new acquisition. Robotics has been around in car manufacturing for a while now, so it could make sense that Hyundai was looking to boost their manufacturing processes with this purchase. While this is certainly a benefit of the acquisition, it doesn’t seem like that is Hyundai’s main goal.

Manufacturing is only the beginning of Hyundai’s planned automation. The release details the company’s efforts in expanding into things like “autonomous driving, artificial intelligence (AI), Urban Air Mobility (UAM), smart factories, and robots.” The company also released this strange video to celebrate the acquisition:

https://youtu.be/O2_NEy0iDck

In the video, we see some cool ideas, like the robotic legs that would help people to walk. But there were also some questionable things, like a robotic nurse and a young girl dancing alone in the street with her robot friend.

In Hyundai’s press release, the company said that it was intent on “realizing the progress for humanity.” I can’t help but notice the irony in Hyundai’s vision for the “progress of humanity” includes replacing humans with robots.

Still, there is a lot of potentials, aside from the all-too-present feeling of inevitable doom brought on by killer robots. Boston Dynamics has developed an incredible amount of technology and, although it might not be best to send robot dogs out to patrol poverty-stricken neighborhoods, there could be some good to come from this acquisition by Hyundai.

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Staff writer at KnowTechie. Alex has two years of experience covering all things technology, from video games to electric cars. He's a gamer at heart, with a passion for first-person shooters and expansive RPGs. Shoot him an email at alex@knowtechie.com

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