It’s a good thing we have SpaceX, or Google’s “moonshots” would almost certainly be more literal than those we see today. The company, which has recently set itself to fixing such problems as the global energy crisis and death, could never turn away from such a placid, mocking challenge as the moon, were a suitably trendy genius not already concerned with it. Google’s upper management seems obsessed with proving that the company’s unique sort of privatized populism can act in those areas we assume are too difficult or advanced for human improvement. The latest arena for such corporate chest-beating surpasses space, energy, and even life extension in terms of sheer sci-fi appeal: robots.
Yes, Google has set itself on a very broad and nonspecific road to developing robots for general use, hinting at a future seen in The Jetsons and I, Robot. The as-yet-unnamed new company is helmed by Andy Rubin, a legendary Google elder most famous for leading the Android division to its place as the (arguably) dominant mobile OS. (Unbelievably, there are as yet no plans to work the Android name into this venture.) Rubin has a background in robot engineering that predates his time with both Google and Apple, which together with his track record as a rabid achiever, makes one thing very clear: Google is tired of waiting for robots.
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