Google just made its biggest bet yet on physical AI. The company is pulling Intrinsic, its robotics software platform, out of the experimental "Other Bets" division and folding it directly into the main business - a strategic elevation that mirrors how Android transformed mobile computing. The move signals Google's intent to dominate industrial robotics the same way it conquered smartphones: by building the operating system everyone else runs on.
Google isn't content dominating search, mobile, and cloud anymore. The tech giant just promoted Intrinsic from its experimental sandbox into the big leagues, and the implications stretch far beyond robotics.
The reorganization, reported by CNBC, represents the most significant validation yet of Google's physical AI ambitions. Intrinsic, which has spent the last several years quietly developing robotics software inside Alphabet's Other Bets division alongside projects like Waymo and Verily, is now getting the full resource backing of Google's main operations.
The Android parallel isn't just marketing spin. When Google acquired Android Inc. in 2005 and released its mobile OS three years later, skeptics questioned whether the search giant could challenge Apple and Microsoft in hardware ecosystems. Today, Android powers more than 70% of the world's smartphones. Google gave it away for free, built a massive developer ecosystem, and let hardware manufacturers compete on devices while Google controlled the platform.
That's exactly the playbook Intrinsic appears designed to execute for industrial robotics. Rather than building robots, the platform offers a software layer that works across different manufacturers' hardware - handling motion planning, machine learning integration, and task orchestration. Factories could theoretically swap robot arms from different vendors while keeping the same Intrinsic-powered brains running operations.
The timing reveals Google's read on where AI is heading next. While competitors like and race to build more powerful language models, Google is extending its AI capabilities into physical space. The company has been testing AI models that can control robotic systems, translating natural language commands into physical actions - technology that only makes sense with a robust software platform underneath.
