Ghost Robotics acquired: Philly’s infamous ‘robot dog’ maker is now owned by a South Korean company

Philadelphia’s burgeoning robotics industry can count another financial win.

Ghost Robotics, the University of Pennsylvania spinout that’s recently received attention for military use of its “robot dog,” today officially announced its acquisition by a South Korean defense giant.

Aerospace manufacturer LIG Nex 1 has acquired a 60% control stake of Ghost in a $240 million deal, making the startup’s total valuation $400 million. The big-money deal is not expected to bring dramatic change to the Philly-founded firm, per cofounder and CEO Gavin Kenneally.

“Ghost Robotics will maintain our headquarters in Philadelphia,” Kenneally told Technical.ly, “and the executive team will continue to manage the business in their current roles.”

Fifty-year old LIG Nex 1, which makes weapon systems for the Republic of Korea Armed Forces, initially filed for the acquisition last December.

“Ghost Robotics will focus on engineering, R&D, and continuing to work closely with our customers.”Gavin Kenneally Ghost

Kenneally and cofounders Avik De and the late Jiren Parikh launched Ghost Robotics in 2015, while Kenneally and De were completing their doctorates at the Penn and working in the school’s GRASP Lab (the acronym stands for General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception).

The company is based out of the 60,000-sq.-ft. Pennovation Works center in Grey’s Ferry. About 30 employees work there, and all will remain with the company, according to Kenneally.

“LIG will use its expertise in high-tech manufacturing to help scale production while Ghost Robotics will focus on engineering, R&D, and continuing to work closely with our customers,” he said.

Ghost Robotics is known for quadrupedal unmanned ground vehicles known as Q-UGVs, or more commonly “robot dogs.”

Its Vision 60 model can climb across uneven ground and withstand harsh weather, and has been used by Ghost’s customers to help with reconnaissance, detect intruders and scout evacuation routes for earthquake victims.

Becoming the target of activist protests

The LIG Nex 1 acquisition coincides with a rise in protests against Ghost Robotics, targeting its sale of products to government militaries including Israel.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported in March that the Israel Defense Force was “experimenting” with the use of robot dogs in the Gaza strip. Vision 60s were reportedly being used to surveil spaces like buildings and tunnels. There has not been any confirmation of weaponization of the robot dogs.

A group called Shut Down Ghost Robotics formed in response to these reports and activists in April started organizing protests that call for Penn to cut ties with the company.

Earlier this month, a Ghost executive’s house was vandalized with words including “murderer” painted on rowhome doors. Vandals shattered glass panels and windows at Pennovation Works that same week, though there was no evidence the damage was connected, university officials said.

A still-pending lawsuit filed by fellow Q-UVG maker Boston Dynamics accuses Ghost of patent infringement; Ghost has called the claims “baseless.” The lawsuit is still pending.

Ghost did not sign the public pledge — created in November 2022 by Boston Dynamics and signed by several other robotics companies — to not weaponize its products.

The pledge states that adding weapons to autonomous or remotely operated robots raises ethical concerns. However, the letter clarifies that signers don’t have issues with “existing technologies” governments use in defense. In response, Ghost said it wouldn’t tell its government customers how to use or not use its robots.

None of these issues appear to have impacted Ghost’s acquisition prospects, market success or future plans.

“We look forward to the next chapter in our growth journey,” Kenneally said, “as we innovate and produce the best-in-class legged robots to improve efficiencies and save lives.”

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Update, 12 p.m.: 404 Media and other national publications reported the Dept. of Homeland Security was testing V60 bots equipped to create denial-of-service attacks on smart homes. Ghost Robotics says that reporting is inaccurate, and its products are not being tested in that way.

Sarah Huffman is a 2022-2024 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The Groundtruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Lenfest Institute for Journalism.