Robert Playter, chief executive of Hyundai Motor Group’s robot affiliate Boston Dynamics, is stepping down, according to the company’s X account. Amanda McMaster, the company’s chief financial officer, will stand in for the top job while the company looks for a replacement, according to TechCrunch.
Boston Dynamics sent TechCrunch the following statement, “Robert Playter is an icon of the global robotics industry, and the entire Boston Dynamics team wishes to express our sincere appreciation and gratitude for his leadership.
From the earliest days of hopping robots, to the world’s first quadrupeds, to spearheading the entire humanoid industry, Playter made his mark as a pioneer of innovation. He transformed Boston Dynamics from a small research and development lab into a successful business that now proudly calls itself the global leader in mobile robotics. He will be sorely missed, but we hope he enjoys some well-deserved time off. Thanks Rob.”
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Playter took up the role in 2020, taking over from founder Marc Raibert. Playter worked at Boston Dynamics for 30 years, where he held other roles, including vice president of engineering and chief operating officer.
Boston Dynamics was founded in 1992 by Raibert as a spinoff from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was a professor. Google’s parent company Alphabet bought Boston Dynamics in 2013, before the company was sold to Japanese investing conglomerate SoftBank in 2017. Hyundai acquired the company in 2021. The company is best known for its quadruped robot, Spot, which the company commercialized in 2020, shortly after Playter took the top role.
Most recently, Boston Dynamics said it is testing a new generation of its humanoid robot, Atlas. In October 2025, a 5-foot-9-inch, 200-pound Atlas was put to the test at Hyundai’s new Georgia factory, where it practiced autonomously sorting roof racks for the assembly line.
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Shares of Hyundai Motor reached 5.9% in Seoul trading on Wednesday as the leadership change spurred market expectation that the automaker intends to speed up commercialization of its robot business. “The stock appeared to have risen because of the news about the resignation of the CEO,” said James Hong Seoul-based analyst at Macquarie, adding that Playter’s team had been “R&D-oriented” for robot development.
Seoul-based Daishin Securities also said in a note that Boston Dynamics’ robot dogs have been deployed to work at a nuclear power plant in Britain, also contributing to the stock’s gains.