Google is moving to further boost its robot army with the acquisition of artificial intelligence firm DeepMind.
As reported by re/code, the search giant shelled out $400 million for DeepMind.
A Google spokesman confirmed the purchase, but had no other details to share.
Demis Hassabis, co-founder DeepMind, said in a statement that "we're really excited to be joining Google. This partnership will allow us to turbo-charge our mission to harness the power of machine learning tools to tackle some of society's toughest problems, and help make our everyday lives more productive and enjoyable. We've built a world-leading team here in the U.K. and we're looking forward to accelerating the impact of our technology with Google."
The company's website is rather sparse, but it describes itself as a "cutting edge artificial intelligence company" with commercial applications in simulations, e-commerce, and games.
"We combine the best techniques from machine learning and systems neuroscience to build powerful general-purpose learning algorithms," according to DeepMind.
The London-based company was founded by Hassabis, Shane Legg, and Mustafa Suleyman, and has backing from "iconic technology entrepreneurs and investors." According to re/code, that includes Skype and Kazaa developer Jaan Tallinn.
The DeepMind acquisition comes about 1.5 months after Google bought robot makers Boston Dynamics. The company produces the impressive (and terrifying) animal-like robots known as BigDog, Cheetah, WildCat, and Atlas.
That came shortly after it was revealed that former Android chief Andy Rubin is now heading up Google's robotics efforts. "The future is looking awesome!" Rubin tweeted after the Boston Dynamics purchase.
Boston Dynamics isn't the only robotics firm in Google's portfolio; check out more in the slideshow above. Also watch PCMag Live in the video below, which discusses Google's latest acquisition.
Editor's Note: This story was update at 10:50 a.m. ET with confirmation from Google, and again at 2 p.m. ET with comment from DeepMind.