Atlas, the humanoid robot created by Alphabet (GOOGL, Tech30) company Boston Dynamics, can open doors, balance while walking through the snow, place objects on a shelf and pick itself up after being knocked down.  Atlas uses sensors embedded in its body and legs to keep its balance. Lasers in its head help Atlas sense and avoid obstacles, navigate, assess terrain and move objects.  With hydraulically-operated joints, Atlas can scan its surroundings and maneuver through complex environments: walking, climbing stairs and dodging debris.

Source: CNN Tech

Date: March 3rd, 2016

Link (with video): http://money.cnn.com/2016/02/24/technology/google-robot/index.html

Discussion

1) The ability of this robot is amazingly (if not scarily) human.  What sort of company could you build around this technology?

2) What might be some ethical issues arising from the use of this computer in your company?