Qualcomm to acquire PickNik Robotics, pledges to keep MoveIt open-source

Qualcomm Technologies Inc. has agreed to acquire PickNik Inc., the developer of the MoveIt open-source manipulation framework, the companies announced.

The two said they expect to streamline MoveIt integration with Qualcomm's Dragonwing platforms, giving developers a simpler path from AI models to planning, manipulation, and real-time control.

PickNik founder and chief product officer Dave Coleman said the company's mission since its founding has been to provide industries with a powerful, open platform that accelerates advanced robotics innovation well beyond traditional factories.

He said joining Qualcomm will let PickNik accelerate that mission, expand investment in MoveIt as a leading AI training platform for robotics, and deliver more value to developers.

Coleman added that the company intends to preserve the openness, community collaboration, and cross-platform support that have always been central to its approach.

Founded in 2015, PickNik worked on the Amazon Picking Challenge and signed Google as its first customer. The Boulder, Colo.-based team had begun developing MoveIt as part of the Robot Operating System (ROS) project at Willow Garage.

In 2024, PickNik rebranded MoveIt Studio as MoveIt Pro, reflecting its maturation into a professional-grade system with advanced runtime, decision-making, and orchestration capabilities.

This year the company partnered with Motiv Space Systems on software for NASA's Fly Foundational Robotics mission, and released MoveIt Pro 9.0 with enhanced perception-to-motion capabilities, redesigned teleoperation, and a training data collection system.