Google founder: I might be an outlier, I am not optimistic about humanoid robots

Google has acquired several robotics companies over the past decade, including Boston Dynamics, but ultimately chose to sell or shut down these businesses.

At the Google I/O 2025 developer conference, Google co-founder Sergey Brin candidly stated that he might be an outlier, not particularly enthusiastic about humanoid robots, and may not be so optimistic about this direction.

Here are some excerpts from Sergey Brin's speech:

Host's Question:

Do you believe in humanoid robots? Or do you think this is a bit... overreaching?

Google Founder Sergey Brin:

I might be an outlier, not particularly enthusiastic about humanoid robots, perhaps because we have acquired at least two humanoid robot startups and then sold them.

But the reason is that the desire to create humanoid robots largely stems from the fact that the world itself is designed around the human form.

For example, one can train through YouTube videos, watching humans perform various actions.

Personally, I believe this line of thinking underestimates AI's capabilities—AI can quickly learn to handle different scenarios through simulation and real-world training.

I'm not sure if it's necessary to strictly replicate the human form of arms, legs (or even zero wheels) for robots to work effectively.

Therefore, I may not be so optimistic about this direction.

However, to be fair, there are indeed many top talents developing humanoid robots