Hey, you gotta check out this wild Forbes article I just read! It talks about how Google is making a massive move in the robotics world, and get this: they’re essentially giving away the core of their industrial robotics platform, called Intrinsic Core. Sundar Pichai himself apparently dubbed it the “Android of robotics,” which, if you think about it, makes total sense. They’re making it open source, meaning all the foundational stuff robots need to function – like control, motion planning, and even how they grasp things – is now freely available and battle-tested.
So, what’s the game plan here? It’s basically the classic Android strategy: provide the essential underlying tech for free, foster a huge ecosystem of developers and users around it, and then rake in the money with the really cool, advanced features. In this case, that means Google’s Gemini AI models, Flowstate, and their industrial cloud services. Imagine, all that time robotics developers usually spend building the same basic infrastructure over and over can now be saved!
This is a game-changer because Intrinsic wants to wipe out all that wasted effort. They even dropped an “Open Machine Tending Solution” specifically aimed at the vast majority of small manufacturers who currently have zero automation – we’re talking 92% in the US and Europe! While it sounds incredibly promising, one interesting point the article brings up is that Intrinsic Core and DeepMind’s fancy Gemini Robotics 2 for humanoids don’t seem to be talking to each other just yet. It’s such an insightful read, showing how Google is trying to revolutionize an entire industry and accelerate automation for everyone.