Amazon founder Jeff Bezos takes a robot dog for a walk
Bezos tweeted the Boston Robotics dog from MARS, Amazon's invite-only robotics conference in California.
- Best New Journalist 2019 Australian IT Journalism Awards
Jeff Bezos is definitely a science fiction fan.
Working that Tony Stark brand, Amazon's billionaire founder strutted down a path alongside a robot dog at the company's MARS conference on Monday at the Parker Hotel in Palm Springs, California. The invite-only gathering of robotics companies and academics, first held in 2016, focuses on machine learning, automation, robotics and space exploration.
Bezos, a rare tweeter, posted the picture on his Twitter account to his 480,000 followers.
Taking my new dog for a walk at the #MARS2018 conference. #BostonDynamics pic.twitter.com/vE6CXrvV3o
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) March 19, 2018
The pooch's name is SpotMini and it looks like the killer robot dogs in the "Metalhead" episode of "Black Mirror". A recent video from creator Boston Dynamics showed a levelled-up SpotMini using an extendable arm to open a closed door. Now all it needs is a slot to insert its murder weapon of choice.
Bezos's robot love was captured in another tweet in which he plays the bottle flip game with a robot.
Jeff Bezos playing beer pong with a robot #mars2018 pic.twitter.com/K1DQzDNvuY
— Cosima Gretton MD (@cosgretton) March 19, 2018
Bezos has been showing off his robot friends since last year's conference, where he piloted a 13-foot-tall robot called Method-2, created by South Korean company Hankook Mirae. Luckily, that cute "Pacific Rim"-type giant was more for show than function.
I just got to pilot an awesome (and huge) robot thanks to Hankook Mirae Technology. Nice! #MARS2017 pic.twitter.com/MvN6ghEYFi
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) March 20, 2017