As we reported in our 2016 Google preview, Alphabet's robot division is in a bit of a mess. The division was started inside Google by Android cofounder Andy Rubin, who aimed to quickly get the project up and running via an acquisition spree. He picked up Boston Dynamics, the DARPA Robotics Challenge winner Schaft, and about seven other companies. Then Andy Rubin left Google, leaving the collection of companies to fend for themselves. With no leader and not much of a direction, the group needed help.

Google has been searching for someone to replace Rubin and lead the Robotics group, and it looks like the group is finally getting some leadership in the form of Alphabet's newly renamed "X" group. A report from The New York Times says that the robot team will be moving to the X division, and Alphabet's moonshot group will "review the various projects and refocus them toward solving specific problems that would be reframed as a particular moonshot effort."

Moving the robot division into the X group reportedly wasn't Alphabet's first choice. The Information claimed Alphabet earlier tried to get Carl Bass, the CEO of Autodesk, to run the division, but questions about the group's relationship with the rest of Alphabet apparently caused problems.

Whipping the robot group into shape at the X division will be a challenge, as right now it's reportedly a fragmented collection of companies with employees spread around the world. Before the acquisition, some focused on animal-like robots, others made humanoid robots, and some worked on table-mounted robot arms for manufacturing. These formerly separate companies will all have to agree on a unified approach.