Layoffs! Now, Google fires robots

Google parent Alphabet has pulled the plug on high-priced automatons — which separated trash and squeegeed cafeteria tables — created by robotics subsidiary Everyday Robots as part of companywide budget cuts, according to a report in Wired.

It had trained 100 one-armed, wheeled robots to help clean the company’s cafeterias. Several of these robot prototypes were transported out of the lab and were doing useful duties throughout Google’s Bay Area facilities.

“Everyday Robots will no longer be a separate project within Alphabet,” said Denise Gamboa, the head of Everyday Robots’ marketing and communications division.

“Some of the technology and part of the team will be consolidated into existing robotics efforts within Google Research,” she added

Everyday Robots once employed more than 200 people, according to Wired. But the division failed to articulate a clear vision as managers couldn’t decide if they wanted to focus on advanced research or whether they hoped to bring a product to market.

The robots that the division produced were too expensive for ordinary customers, with each valued at tens of thousands of dollars, according to Wired.

In 2021, Hans Peter Brøndmo, the chief robot officer and the general manager of the Everyday Robots project, published a blog post announcing that his team had trained more than 100 robots that were “autonomously performing a range of useful tasks around our offices.”

“The same robot that sorts trash can now be equipped with a squeegee to wipe tables and use the same gripper that grasps cups can learn to open doors,” Brøndmo wrote.