Everyday Robots has become another casualty of job cuts at Google's parent company Alphabet and, so far, the latest in a long list of failed hardware projects for the company. Developed by Everyday Robots, prototypes of one-armed wheeled robots have been testing at Google offices since 2021, and in 2022 they received an update thanks to Google's artificial intelligence research, which allowed them to process commands in natural language.

Everyday Robots was launched in 2019 with the aim of developing mobile robots with manipulators that could help in home and office environments. “Everyday Robots will no longer be a separate project within Alphabet,” said Denise Gamboa, director of marketing and communications for Everyday Robots. “Some of the technology and part of the team will be built into existing robotics projects within Google Research.”

Alphabet is cutting costs this year, with Google laying off about 12,000 employees in January. In the same month, Alphabet's other robotics venture, Intrinsic, which makes software to control industrial machines, also suffered a roughly 20 percent layoff.

Creating robots capable of doing work in unstructured and unpredictable environments such as apartments and offices is a very difficult task. After decades of research and huge success in the design of industrial robotic complexes, in the domestic sphere, robots have so far managed to solve only one problem - vacuuming. Although the mentioned prototypes of Everyday Robots were taught to bring chips and soda to Google workers.

This is a disappointing end to another ambitious Alphabet project in the field of hardware products. Ten years ago, Google began investing in robotics by buying many companies. However, despite this initial surge of activity, Alphabet's robotics ventures have not moved forward, although the company continues to conduct research in this area.