AI Institute hires Marco Hutter to lead European office

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Dr. Marco Hutter has founded several robotics startups, including Swiss quadruped make ANYbotics.

The AI Institute hired Dr. Marco Hutter to lead its new office in Zurich, Switzerland. Hutter, professor of Robotics at ETH Zurich and director of the ETH Center for Robotics, has been a visiting fellow with the AI Institute since March 2023 and will now be expanding his role.

He will continue to serve as a professor at ETH while working at the AI Institute. Hutter’s research focuses on the development of novel machines, behavior, and actuation concepts, together with the underlying control, task planning, and machine learning algorithms for agile legged locomotion and manipulation. He is one of the co-founders of ANYbotics, a Swiss developer of quadruped robots.

“I have been so impressed with the technical work Marco and his students have done over the years, that now I’m thrilled we will be working much more closely together under this new arrangement,” said Marc Raibert, founder and executive director of the AI Institute. “The Institute has grown a remarkable technical team over the past 15 months, and with Marco’s involvement we are excited to extend that growth to Europe.”

The AI Institute’s mission is to develop technology that enables future generations of intelligent machines, to achieve fundamental advances in the engineering and science of robotics. Zurich will be the Institute’s second office, in addition to its headquarters in Cambridge, Mass., and will serve as the organization’s European headquarters.

Under Hutter’s leadership, the team will advance the development of intelligent machines that are agile and dexterous, enabling them to operate in some of the world’s most challenging and unstructured environments. The office will grow a team of top talent in AI, robotics, engineering, computing and machine learning, and will combine the best features of academic research labs with the best features of corporate development labs.

The Zurich office is set to open in early 2024 and will expand the Institute’s focus in core areas such as cognitive AI, athletic AI, organic hardware design and ethics related to robotics.

The AI Institute also recently hired Dr. Kate Darling to lead its study of ethics and societal impact. Darling is leading a team of researchers to explore key societal questions related to the development of intelligent machines. Darling was recently on The Robot Report Podcast to discuss everything from AI and humanoids to her kids’ love for the Marty robot at the local Stop and Shop supermarket. You can listen to that interview below starting at the 40:20 mark.

Hyundai Motor Group launched the AI Institute in May 2022. Its goal is to be the “Bell Labs of Robotics and AI.” Al Rizzi is the institute’s chief technology officer. He has 25-plus years of experience building dynamic robots, including nearly 17 years as the chief scientist at Boston Dynamics.

Hyundai acquired Boston Dynamics in June 2021, purchasing an 80% stake in the company from Softbank for about $880 million. Hyundai became the third owner of Boston Dynamics in seven years. It was acquired by Google in 2013 and sold to Softbank Group in 2017. It has mainly operated as an R&D organization since it was founded, but a new emphasis on commercialization was evident after it was acquired by Softbank.

Raibert keynoted the 2023 Robotics Summit & Expo, where he discussed a variety of things, including the future of robotics and the role he wants the AI Institute to play.

Marc Raibert (left) talks to Steve Crowe during the Robotics Summit & Expo 2023. | Credit: The Robot Report