# Google's Secret Robotics Play That Nobody's Talking About

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-neuron-ai-explained-6886341/google-s-secret-robotics-play-that-nobody-s-talking-about
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-neuron-ai-explained-6886341/google-s-secret-robotics-play-that-nobody-s-talking-about.md
Podcast: [The Neuron: AI Explained](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-neuron-ai-explained-6886341)
Published: 2026-04-01T20:40:00+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-neuron/episodes/Googles-Secret-Robotics-Play-That-Nobodys-Talking-About-e3ha0ah
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/f51d3fd0/podcast/play/117817105/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-3-1%2F421223648-44100-2-e3c79fc6fd5b1.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-neuron-ai-explained-6886341/episodes/google-s-secret-robotics-play-that-nobody-s-talking-about
Duration seconds: 2967

## Resource

Brian Gerkey is the CTO of Intrinsic, the robotics software company that started inside Alphabet and now sits inside Google, working directly with DeepMind and Gemini. Brian co-created ROS (Robot Operating System), the open-source platform used by over 1 million developers that powers everything from factory robots to NASA's Astrobee on the International Space Station. In this episode, Grant talks with Brian about "physical AI" — what happens when AI leaves the screen and starts controlling robots in the real world. They cover why 80% of US manufacturing facilities still have zero automation, how Intrinsic's platform acts as the "Android of robotics," the breakthroughs in AI-powered perception that let robots see with sub-millimeter accuracy using cheap cameras, the challenges of simulating physical contact (friction is a nightmare), and why the best robot application ideas often come from people who know nothing about robots. Subscribe to The Neuron newsletter: https://theneuron.ai Intrinsic: https://www.intrinsic.ai/ ROS (Robot Operating System): https://www.ros.org/ AI for Industry Challenge: https://www.intrinsic.ai/events/ai-for-industry-challenge Intrinsic joins Google (Feb 2026): https://www.intrinsic.ai/blog/posts/intrinsic-joins-google-to-accelerate-physical-ai

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## Transcript

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