--- title: "Google is building humanoid robots, hiring Boston Dynamics' ex-CTO for a 35,000-square-foot Massachusetts lab" description: "Google DeepMind told the Boston Globe on October 15 that it is opening a robotics hardware lab in Watertown, Massachusetts, run by Boston Dynamics' former chief technology officer. The maker of the Gemini models demonstrated inside Apptronik's Apollo humanoid is moving into hardware the same month NVIDIA was reported to be adding $1 billion to full-stack rival Figure AI." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Hardware" published: 2026-10-16T19:35:32.338Z modified: 2026-10-16T19:35:32.338Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/google-is-building-humanoid-robots-hiring-boston-dynamics-ex-cto-for-a-35-000-square-foot-massachusetts-lab language: en keywords: "Robotics, Google DeepMind, Humanoid Robots, Boston Dynamics, Nvidia, Physical AI" --- # Google is building humanoid robots, hiring Boston Dynamics' ex-CTO for a 35,000-square-foot Massachusetts lab > Google DeepMind told the Boston Globe on October 15 that it is opening a robotics hardware lab in Watertown, Massachusetts, run by Boston Dynamics' former chief technology officer. The maker of the Gemini models demonstrated inside Apptronik's Apollo humanoid is moving into hardware the same month NVIDIA was reported to be adding $1 billion to full-stack rival Figure AI. [Google DeepMind](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/google-deepmind) is moving from supplying robot brains to building robot bodies, and it hired a veteran of Boston Dynamics, the Waltham company known for its backflipping and dog-like robots, to lead the work. The [Alphabet](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/alphabet) lab [confirmed to the Boston Globe on October 15](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/10/15/business/google-deepmind-cambridge-robotics-lab/) a robotics hardware lab in Watertown, Massachusetts, due to finish in 2027 [1]. Aaron Saunders spent 22 years at Boston Dynamics and left as its chief technology officer before DeepMind hired him in 2025 [1]. He is now hiring machinists, engineers and researchers for the lab [1]. The meaning for anyone allocating capital: physical AI's value is settling on companies that own the brain and the body together, and Google is moving to own both ends. ![Boston Dynamics' Atlas humanoid robot facing the camera, the company's name on its chest](https://storage.googleapis.com/theinference-public/img/69309ec5d7675cb5.jpg) *Boston Dynamics' Atlas humanoid, photographed in July 2026. Aaron Saunders spent 22 years at the Waltham company and left as its chief technology officer before DeepMind hired him to run the new lab. (Damian B Oh)* ## The lab is Google hiring the middle of the chain Google's robot intelligence has so far run in other companies' machines. Gemini Robotics 2 was demonstrated on [Apptronik](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/apptronik)'s [Apollo humanoid in July](https://hoodline.com/2026/10/google-deepmind-builds-robot-lab-in-cambridge-poaches-boston-dynamics-cto/) [2], and on October 13 the Gemini 4 Argon model watched video of a person playing cornhole, wrote its own physics simulation and [landed seven straight throws on an Apollo](https://theinference.org/article/google-s-gemini-made-apptronik-s-robot-land-7-straight-shots-from-video-alone-jabil-is-the-only-listed-stock) [3][4]. What stands between that demo and a robot that earns a full shift is the part the camera skips: hands, arms and onboard compute designed around the model, then a production line to build them. A 35,000-square-foot lease signed this summer is Google paying to close that gap in-house [1]. The Globe also reports DeepMind is developing its own humanoid, one that walks, talks and handles delicate tasks [1]. ## The partner already named the risk Apptronik, the Austin startup whose Apollo carries those demos, has heard the plan stated plainly. Chief executive Jeff Cardenas says Google told the company from the start it is building "the Android for robotics," a model that "will go to many different partners" [3]. [Demis Hassabis](https://theinference.org/markets/people/demis-hassabis), DeepMind's chief executive, has described the strategy in the same Android terms [2]. Android, in time, built its own phones. A body-maker whose brain is licensed from a supplier that now runs its own hardware lab is negotiating from the weaker side of the table. ## Capital already priced the full stack [Figure AI](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/figure-ai), the humanoid startup whose robots ran eleven months of daily shifts at BMW's Spartanburg plant, trains its models on [NVIDIA](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/nvidia)'s chips [5]. NVIDIA is [reported to be discussing another $1 billion](https://www.eweek.com/news/nvidia-figure-ai-1-billion-investment-humanoid-robots/) into the company, a deal neither firm has confirmed [5][6]. The round would land near the $39 billion mark Figure set in September 2025, when NVIDIA first invested [6]. Figure owns its whole chain: the Helix model that runs its robots [6] and the BotQ factory that builds them [5]. That price sits above [Goldman Sachs](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/goldman-sachs)' [forecast for the entire humanoid market of 2035](https://www.techtimes.com/articles/328801/20261013/nvidias-reported-1b-figure-ai-investment-prices-startup-above-goldman-sachs-2035-humanoid-market.htm) [5]. Apptronik [raised at about $5 billion this year](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/apptronik-s-private-market-share-soars-3600-on-humanoid-robot-hype/ar-AA2bYCNi), in a round Google itself co-led [3][8]. *Chart: **Figure AI's $39B round mark tops Goldman's forecast for the entire 2035 humanoid market** Bar chart comparing Figure AI's $39 billion round valuation with Goldman Sachs' $38 billion forecast for the entire 2035 humanoid market and Apptronik's $5 billion round valuation.* *Private post-money round marks in billions of US dollars; the Goldman figure is its projection of the entire global humanoid market in 2035. NVIDIA's reported $1 billion follow-on into Figure is unconfirmed. Sources: Tech Times; eWeek; The Inference. [3][5][6]* ## Jabil is the listed test The only listed company in Apollo's chain is [Jabil](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/jabil), the contract manufacturer that helps build the robot [3][7]. The segment holding that work, Intelligent Devices & Robotics, is [guided down 2 percent to $5.3 billion for the coming fiscal year](https://theinference.org/article/jabil-s-8-5-billion-growth-guide-is-almost-all-ai) [7]. The racks, power and cooling that carry Jabil's AI growth sit in another segment, guided up 43 percent [7]. Alphabet and NVIDIA are the listed names on the brain side of this chain. The December quarter decides whether Apollo is a program or a demo: volumes have to appear in the shrinking line, or the humanoid stays optionality while data centers pay Jabil's bills [7]. ## A lease, a hire and a reported term sheet None of this argues against physical AI reaching factory floors; what is observable today is a lease, a hire and a reported term sheet, and they point the same way. Model owners are buying or building the bodies, and the suppliers of single links hold negotiable positions. The distance between a capable model and a working robot is engineering and manufacturing. This month, Google and NVIDIA both decided to own it. ## Takeaway Google DeepMind's Watertown lab puts the Gemini model owner in the robot-body business, NVIDIA's reported $1 billion rewards Figure's full stack, and Jabil remains the only listed way into the chain. ## Sources 1. [The Boston Globe, "More robots are coming to Cambridge as Google announces a new lab," October 15, 2026](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/10/15/business/google-deepmind-cambridge-robotics-lab/) 2. [Hoodline, "Google DeepMind Builds Robot Lab in Cambridge, Poaches Boston Dynamics' CTO," October 2026](https://hoodline.com/2026/10/google-deepmind-builds-robot-lab-in-cambridge-poaches-boston-dynamics-cto/) 3. [The Inference, "Google's Gemini made Apptronik's robot land 7 straight shots from video alone; Jabil is the only listed stock," October 14, 2026](https://theinference.org/article/google-s-gemini-made-apptronik-s-robot-land-7-straight-shots-from-video-alone-jabil-is-the-only-listed-stock) 4. [Blockchain News, "Gemini 4 Argon trains Apollo robot to master cornhole," October 13, 2026](https://blockchain.news/ainews/gemini-4-argon-trains-apollo-robot-to-master-cornhole) 5. [Tech Times, "NVIDIA's Reported $1B Figure AI Investment Prices Startup Above Goldman Sachs' 2035 Humanoid Market," October 13, 2026](https://www.techtimes.com/articles/328801/20261013/nvidias-reported-1b-figure-ai-investment-prices-startup-above-goldman-sachs-2035-humanoid-market.htm) 6. [eWeek, "Nvidia Reportedly Eyes Another $1B Investment in Figure AI's Humanoid Robots," October 8, 2026](https://www.eweek.com/news/nvidia-figure-ai-1-billion-investment-humanoid-robots/) 7. [The Inference, "Jabil's $8.5 Billion Growth Guide Is Almost All AI," October 9, 2026](https://theinference.org/article/jabil-s-8-5-billion-growth-guide-is-almost-all-ai) 8. [Benzinga via MSN, "Apptronik's private market share soars 3,600% on humanoid robot hype," September 10, 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/apptronik-s-private-market-share-soars-3600-on-humanoid-robot-hype/ar-AA2bYCNi) --- Google is building humanoid robots, hiring Boston Dynamics' ex-CTO for a 35,000-square-foot Massachusetts lab — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/google-is-building-humanoid-robots-hiring-boston-dynamics-ex-cto-for-a-35-000-square-foot-massachusetts-lab