Microsoft fires robotics department

Microsoft has dismantled its research department’s robotics team as part of previously announced layoffs. This is reported by one of the team’s employees. In total, Microsoft is laying off 18,000 people.

The end of the Microsoft Research robot team has been announced by Ashley Feniello, a member of the team. “All that remains is a collection of robots,” he writes on his Microsoft blog. The robot team, whose size is unclear, focused on, among other things, the use of robots in education and the interaction between humans and robots.

The team was also responsible for Robotics Developer Studio, a widely used tool for controlling robots. It is unclear whether that tool will no longer be developed, or whether another team will take on the development.

The dismissal of the robot researchers is part of a major restructuring at Microsoft, which will see 18,000 people lose their jobs. Microsoft is also closing its Research Lab Silicon Valley and cutting jobs at its Trustworthy Computing arm, ZDNet wrote.