Google already has self-driving cars, while futurist Ray Kurzweil is working on machine learning and language processing projects. Should we really worry that it has now acquired Boston Dynamics, maker of chemical-weapon-resistant robot soldiers and all-terrain mechanized pack-mules? Or should we trust that it will abide by its "Don't be evil" motto?

Google's robot initiative is one of the search giant's moonshot projects; future-looking efforts that don't fit in with Google's original search mission or its revenue-generating advertising, like extending our lives and creating balloon-powered Internet access. Now, that could include building a robot horde.

Heading up the robotics effort is Andy Rubin, who's turned his attention from Android to full-on humanoids. A recent New York Times story about the former Android chief's new role starts ominously: "In an out-of-the-way Google office, two life-size humanoid robots hang suspended in a corner." In it, Rubin is vague about Google's robot plans, except to point out that they're useful for manufacturing and logistics solutions. As to whether that means the Moto X factory line workers will one day be replaced by robots is still anyone's guess.

Whatever the robots are meant for, there are certainly more of them now that Google owns eight robotics companies, all of them purchased in the last few months. The types of robots vary: some of them work in Hollywood, while others are made to serve. A few of them are able to pull their weight and then some.

Take a look at just what robotics companies Google has bought lately in the slideshow. Should fear that Skynet is coming or if we need someone to defeat those evil machines? You be the judge.