Google wants Intrinsic to be ‘Android of robotics’ as it pushes into physical AI

Google became a powerhouse in smartphones by creating the Android operating system and partnering with handset makers in need of an answer to Apple’s iPhone. Now the search giant has a similar plan for tackling robotics.

Earlier this week, Google announced that Intrinsic, an internal robotics software project, will be moved from the “Other Bets” category into the main company.

Just as Android runs across phones and tablets from devices made by Samsung, Motorola, China’s Xiaomi and others, Intrinsic does the same for robotic systems, though the partnering companies have far less recognizable names. They include FANUC, Universal Robots and KUKA, which all primarily focus on industrial robots. Prospective competitors include Amazon and Tesla.

McKinsey projects the market for general purpose robots could reach $370 billion by 2040, opening up a potentially large opportunity for Google as artificial intelligence moves from the digital world of chatbots, image generation and AI agents to the physical world.

Intrinsic says on its website that it’s building an operating system so manufacturers “can focus more on solving the problem, and not the plumbing.” Like with Android, developers tap ready-made capabilities from Intrinsic to develop applications more efficiently.

“We’re trying to make it accessible for anyone,” Intrinsic CEO Wendy Tan White told CNBC in an interview last year. “It doesn’t matter what the hardware is and it doesn’t matter what the AI model is. We will help you put that together so you can have access to it.”

By being inside Google, Intrinsic will be closer to the company’s AI models, infrastructure and cloud tools. It will continue operating as a distinct group within Google, remaining under the Intrinsic brand and the leadership of Tan White, who helmed the company as it graduated from Alphabet’s X “moonshot factory” in 2021.

Google has a complicated history with robotics.

In 2013, Alphabet bought Boston Dynamics, known for its walking robots, and Schaft, a Japanese humanoid robotics company. It also purchased several vision startups. After several years spent trying to build a clear business in the space, Google sold Boston Dynamics and Schaft in 2017 to SoftBank for an undisclosed amount.

The recent explosion in AI has changed the game.

In mid-2025, Google debuted two new AI models, Gemini Robotics and Gemini Robotics-ER (extended reasoning), bringing generative AI into physical action commands to control robots. Google said in a blog post at the time that it would partner with Apptronik, a Texas-based robotics developer, to “build the next generation of humanoid robots with Gemini 2.0.”

Last month, Google teamed up with Boston Dynamics to integrate Gemini into Atlas humanoid robots built for manufacturing environments. In November, Google’s DeepMind unit hired the former CTO of Boston Dynamics.

Intrinsic’s team will work closely with DeepMind’s AI technology stack, from research and model development through deployment and daily operations in manufacturing and logistics, the company said. It will also work more closely with Google’s Gemini, infrastructure and cloud teams.

Intrinsic technology chief Brian Gerkey said in an interview that the company has the advantage of building on top of DeepMind’s models, adding specialized data and “standing on the shoulders” of its technology.

Late last year, Intrinsic and Foxconn announced a partnership to deploy AI robots for electronics assembly in Foxconn’s U.S. factories. AI server manufacturing in its current form is primarily a mix of rigid automation and manual production.

Google has been pouring money into data centers and hardware to try and keep up with soaring usage of AI tools and models. Amin Vahdat, Google’s AI infrastructure boss, told employees that the company has to double its serving capacity every six months in order to meet demand for AI services, CNBC reported in November.

“You want to push into the areas where there’s a lot of investment going into the end market,” Tan White said. “And right now, the electronics market is just going nuts, partly because of the need for more products and compute. There’s huge demand.”

A 2025 Deloitte survey of 600 manufacturing executives found that 80% of respondents plan to invest 20% or more of their improvement budgets in smart manufacturing initiatives, with a focus on foundational tools and technologies.

Intrinsic’s flagship product, Flowstate, is a web-based platform that allows users to build robotic applications without having to write thousands of lines of code. The company also has open-source tools that can help with building robot applications, similar to Google’s approach with Android.

Tan White said that Google CEO Sundar Pichai has even made the comparison to the company’s mobile strategy.

“He said this is the Android of robotics,” Tan White said, noting that Pichai worked on Chrome and Android before he became CEO. “I think he has a lot of credibility.”

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