Marc Raibert
Marc Raibert (born 22 December 1949) is a leading figure in robotics and artificial intelligence. He is the Executive Director of the Robotics and AI Institute (RAI Institute), a Hyundai Motor Group organisation based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In this role since April 2022, he oversees the institute’s long-term strategy focused on developing advanced robots and intelligent machines. He is also the founder and Chairman of Boston Dynamics, one of the world’s most influential robotics companies, known for creating robots such as BigDog, Atlas, Spot, Handle and SpotMini.
Raibert founded Boston Dynamics in 1992 and served as its Chief Executive Officer until March 2022. Under his leadership, the company became a global reference in dynamic robotics. Boston Dynamics was acquired by Google in 2013, later sold to SoftBank in 2017, and then acquired byHyundai Motor Groupin 2020. Raibert remained involved throughout these transitions and continues to guide the company’s long-term direction.
Before founding Boston Dynamics, Raibert held academic roles at two major institutions. He was an Associate Professor atCarnegie Mellon Universityfrom 1981 to 1985, where he founded the Leg Laboratory in 1980. The lab played a key role in establishing the scientific foundations of dynamic robotic movement. He later became Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at theMassachusetts Institute of Technologyfrom 1986 to 1995. His research produced the first self-balancing hopping robots, which influenced modern legged robotics.
Raibert earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University in 1973 and completed his PhD at MIT in 1977. His doctoral thesis,Motor Control and Learning by the State Space Model, was supervised by Berthold K.P. Horn and Whitman Richards. Earlier in his career, he worked atNASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory from 1977 to 1980 as a member of technical staff.
Raibert holds several robotics patents, including inventions related to robotic actuators and jumping mechanisms. He is a Founding Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, a member of the National Academy of Engineering (elected in 2008), recipient of the IEEE Pioneer in Robotics Award in 2022, and winner of the Engelberger Award in Technology. He has delivered keynote speeches and presented at major international conferences and forums on robotics and artificial intelligence.
