Google is working on a secretive project to create a new generation of robots, it is claimed.
The search engine giant is famous for its ‘moonshot’ projects, and its latest one is to build robots for the manufacturing and delivery industries, according to the New York Times.
It ran an interview with former Android chief Andy Rubin, who told the paper his new role is as the head engineer of the robotics project.
He told the publication: "Like any moonshot, you have to think of time as a factor. We need enough runway and a 10-year vision."
Google has allegedly quietly acquired seven robotics and A.I. startups based in the US and Japan after Rubin convinced Google’s founders to back the venture.
The NY Times said the firms include Schaft, a team of Japanese roboticists developing a humanoid robot, and Industrial Perception, a US startup which has developed robot arms and computer vision systems.
Rubin told the paper targets include manufacturing and the logistics industry, which Amazon is already tryng to innovate within with its Prime Air drone delivery service.
