Google's Robot OS Strategy Copies Android Playbook

Google conquered smartphones by giving away Android for free and letting hardware makers fight over market share. Now it's betting the same playbook will work for robots.

This week, Google announced it's moving Intrinsic, its internal robotics software project, out of the "Other Bets" category and into the main company. It's not just a corporate reshuffling—it's a signal that Google is serious about building the Android of robotics.

Just as Android runs on phones from Samsung, Motorola, and China's Xiaomi, Intrinsic aims to power robotic systems from companies like FANUC, Universal Robots, and KUKA. The difference? Most people have never heard of these industrial robot makers.

The Android Formula for Robots

"We're trying to make it accessible for anyone," Intrinsic CEO Wendy Tan White told CNBC 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."

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has even made the comparison explicit. "He said this is the Android of robotics," Tan White revealed, noting that Pichai worked on Chrome and Android before becoming CEO.

The strategy mirrors Android's approach: provide the operating system, let manufacturers focus on hardware, and capture value through services and data. Intrinsic's flagship product, Flowstate, is a web-based platform that lets developers build robot applications without writing thousands of lines of code—think app development for the physical world.

$370 Billion Market by 2040

McKinsey projects the market for general-purpose robots could reach $370 billion by 2040, opening a massive opportunity as AI moves from chatbots to physical automation. But Google's robotics journey hasn't been smooth.

In 2013, Alphabet bought Boston Dynamics and Japanese humanoid company Schaft, along with several vision startups. After years of struggling to find a clear business model, Google sold both Boston Dynamics and Schaft to SoftBank in 2017 for an undisclosed amount.

The recent AI explosion changed everything. Last year, Google debuted Gemini Robotics and Gemini Robotics-ER, bringing generative AI into physical action commands. The company partnered with Texas-based Apptronik to "build the next generation of humanoid robots with Gemini 2.0."

Last month, Google reunited with Boston Dynamics, integrating Gemini into Atlas humanoid robots built for manufacturing. It's a remarkable turnaround from the 2017 divorce.

The Foxconn Test Case

Intrinsic's partnership with Foxconn, announced late last year, serves as a crucial proving ground. The plan: deploy AI robots for electronics assembly in Foxconn's U.S. factories.

"You want to push into areas where there's a lot of investment going into the end market," Tan White explained. "Right now, the electronics market is just going nuts, partly because of the need for more products and compute."

Google itself is driving this demand. The company has been pouring money into data centers and hardware to keep up with soaring AI usage. Amin Vahdat, Google's AI infrastructure boss, told employees the company must double its serving capacity every six months to meet demand for AI services.

A 2025 Deloitte survey of 600 manufacturing executives found that 80% plan to invest 20% or more of their improvement budgets in smart manufacturing initiatives. The timing seems right for Google's robot OS push.

Winners and Losers in the Robot Race

By moving Intrinsic into the main company, Google gains closer integration with DeepMind's AI models, cloud infrastructure, and the Gemini team. Brian Gerkey, Intrinsic's technology chief, said the advantage comes from "standing on the shoulders" of DeepMind's technology.

But Google faces formidable competition. Amazon has been quietly building robotics capabilities for its warehouses, while Tesla is developing humanoid robots for manufacturing. Both have deep pockets and existing hardware ecosystems.

The question isn't whether robots will transform manufacturing—it's who will control the software layer that makes them smart.