Boston Dynamics has named Rohit Prasad as chief executive, effective 7 October. Prasad spent 12 years at Amazon, latterly as senior vice president and head scientist for Alexa and artificial general intelligence, and more recently led development of the Amazon Nova foundation model family. Before that he spent nearly 14 years at Raytheon BBN Technologies on machine-learning research. The company says he is also expected to join its board, subject to approval.
The appointment fills a gap at the top. Robert Playter, who succeeded founder Marc Raibert, stepped down in February, and the company has been run on an interim basis since.
Why it matters: Boston Dynamics built its reputation on hardware, from the Spot quadruped to the electric Atlas humanoid still in development. Choosing someone who builds AI models rather than machines says where the company, controlled by Hyundai Motor Group, now sees the bottleneck: software that lets robots cope with messy, changing workplaces. The announcement describes his job as turning physical AI into commercial products for industrial and enterprise sites. It sets no targets, timelines or sales figures, so for now this is a statement of direction rather than a plan.