Google’s Robots Give Amazon’s Drones a Run For their Money (+video)

Google has snapped up the creator of the world’s fastest running robot and other eerily realistic animal-like machines supplied to the U.S. military.

The internet company’s acquisition of Boston Dynamics is latest in a string of robotics acquisitions in a mysterious initiative led by former Android chief Andy Rubin.

As Amazon readies a fleet of delivery drones, Boston Dynamics is Google’s biggest prize yet in the robot wars.

Among the creations to crawl, jump and gallop from its labs are Big Dog, a four-legged robot that can clamber over uneven terrain such as snowy forests, even when assailed by kicks from its makers, and Cheetah, which claims to hold the record for the fastest legged robot in the world, running at more than 29 miles per hour.

Many of Boston Dynamics’ robots have been developed with funding from the U.S. Department of Defense’s research unit, Darpa, making Google a military contractor, at least for now.

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