SoftBank agrees to acquire Robotics and AI Institute

Marc Raibert (center) spoke with editor Steve Crowe in a 2023 Robotics Summit & Expo keynote. SoftBank Group Corp.

has agreed to acquire the Robotics and AI Institute (RAI) from Hyundai Motor Group, according to multiple sources. Financial terms of the deal are unknown at this time. The deal has been rumored for a couple of months, but it is now being reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). The RAI is based in Cambridge, Mass., while SoftBank is a Japanese tech conglomerate. The two companies have a history together. Marc Raibert founded both Boston Dynamics Inc. and the RAI Institute. SoftBank owned Boston Dynamics from 2017 to 2021. The RAI was founded in 2022 as part of Hyundai’s acquisition of Boston Dynamics. In addition to that acquisition, Hyundai spun out the institute with an initial investment of more than $400 million. That initial funding has ended, according to multiple sources. RAI’s research spans robot control, perception, manipulation, navigation, and AI to help robots perform complex physical tasks. For example, it developed the whole-body learning framework that enables the acrobatic movements showcased by Boston Dynamics’ new Atlas in the video below. CFIUS reviews foreign investments in U.S. businesses to determine their impact on national security.