Google is looking to simplify its robotics program by honing in on the development of machine-learning bots that can perform basic tasks, according to the New York Times.
Three things to know:
1. Google's new robotics team will use machine learning to teach robots how to learn skills independently, such as how to sort through a bin of objects by type, according to the report.
2. The tech giant is acquiring robots built by other companies for its program, and then training the robots to perform new tasks. For example, Google researchers are teaching a mobile robot, sold to the company by a startup company called Fetch, to maneuver spaces that the robot has not yet encountered.
3. Vincent Vanhoucke, who previously helped develop Google Brain, the tech giant's artificial intelligence lab, is leading the new robotics unit.