Google is in the process of selling Schaft, a Japanese robotics division it acquired in 2013, to the Toyota Research Institute, according to a report from Nikkei.
Tech Insider originally reported last week that the Toyota Research Institute is closing in on a deal to buy Google's robotics division Boston Dynamics. A source familiar with the matter told TI the "ink is nearly dry" on the deal.
Nikkei reported Wednesday that the Toyota Research Institute is not only in talks to acquire Boston Dynamics but Schaft robotics as well. Toyota and Google have yet to agree on the details, meaning the deal could still fall through.
Google's robotics division, internally dubbed Replicant, suffered a blow when co-founder and lead architect Andy Rubin left in October 2014 — less than a year after Schaft and Boston Dynamics were acquired. Rubin's departure resulted in a leadership vacuum with no one to lead the disparate groups.
Former Boston Dynamics employees told Tech Insider that many Replicant employees were disappointed in Rubin's departure. Rubin was willing to let Replicant employees continue their research as planned. The idea was to see what kind of ideas and innovations the robotics companies came up with, and let that guide Google's eventual robotics vision.
When Rubin left, Google began pushing the robotics divisions to build a consumer robot for the home or office, a move that rubbed many employees the wrong way.
SCHAFT is best known as the winner of the 2013 DARPA Robotics Challenge that put it on the map. Google acquired it that same year.
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