Google Intrinsic: Does Regus Patoff now rule?
Addendum (03/15/2013): Robert Weber from the Ki-Podcast has asked Intrinsic: The robots now for sale (see below) come from acquisitions. So the actual inventory is not sold, so the tenor.
The in-house production "The Consultant" was recently released on Amazon Prime. In it, a consultant played by Christoph Waltz takes over the fate of a company without being asked. He makes it successful with more than questionable methods, including cost-cutting, of course. His mission ends here, as he himself realizes, and he introduces himself in a short sequence - also uninvited - to the next company. This company develops robots and will probably be discussed in more detail in a possible second season.
At Instrinsic are now controllers - why only now?
Google is known for placing bets on potentially very large future markets. A lot of money is then quickly invested in technologies that could have a strong influence on the future and could be in demand accordingly. Google has also done so in the area of household and service robotics. The corresponding subsidiary "Everyday Robots" was recently closed. Critics noted that it was never apparent whether the company only wanted to research or also sell. Intrinsic was founded for industrial solutions. The company continues to exist, but had to lay off about 20% of its employees and is now apparently ruled by controllers of a sort Regus Patoff, i.e. the consultant from the Amazon series.
Intrinsic auctions over 100 KUKA
The aforementioned controllers have, for example, caused numerous robots and machines that Instrinsic purchased to now be auctioned off. The question arises, is it silverware or just hardware that is no longer needed. The material on offer can be viewed here and, if required, bids can also be placed here:
https://svdisposition.com/auction-detail?id=506
https://svdisposition.com/auction-detail?id=507
If one reads that alone 104 Kuka KR6-900R-2 / SEL w/ Kuka KR C4 Compact w/ Hand Held Pendants or 22 Kuka KR16 Robots, partly orginal packed are offered, one asks oneself, who bought this and why was not looked before on the money. Obviously the controllers were missing before.
Google givest on/ reduced, Elon Musk is unchanged bullish
The cutback at Google is also surprising insofar as the general market assessment remains positive and Tesla is moving more and more concretely in the direction of robotics. Perhaps those responsible at Google are just burnt children: Boston Dynamics only ever cost money and did not deliver, and no marketable solutions were foreseeable for Everyday Robots. Elon Musk may have had to suffer less pain here so far. In addition, Google is probably more willing to realize losses.
Behavior Finance provides insight
In finance, there is the theory of behavior finance. It explains, among other things, that a considerable proportion of people are afraid of realizing losses. A good example of this is the Telekom share. Telekom was floated on the stock market shortly before the turn of the millennium. Suddenly, people who had never owned a share before were buying Telekom shares for up to €100/unit. After all, according to the TV commercials, it was a "people's share". In the 10 years that followed, it was trading at around €10, a loss of around 90% in value. Nevertheless, hardly any of the first buyers sold it. After all, the 90 euro loss was only mentally on paper as long as no sale was made. (After all, there was a dividend - calculated on 10 euros a lot, on 100 euros little). Musk may also be similarly inclined, as his adherence to autonomous driving on an optical basis alone suggests. Tesla is not getting anywhere with autonomous driving, yet the expensive lidar continues to be rejected. Tesla's bot optimism has not yet disappointed, but Musk's mentality should help the robot here if necessary. Google management, on the other hand, thinks more like an investment banker. If necessary, the plug will be pulled. This is what happened with Everyday Robots. Alternatively, they try savings first, as with Intrinsic.
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