Qualcomm has agreed to acquire PickNik Robotics, the company behind MoveIt – one of the most widely used open-source robotics software frameworks in the world. The deal is aimed at strengthening Qualcomm’s push into physical AI and robotics, giving developers a smoother path from research to real-world deployment.
Staying Open, By Design
MoveIt, built on the Robot Operating System (ROS), is used globally by researchers, students, and commercial robotics companies to build everything from industrial automation to mobile manipulation systems. Qualcomm says both MoveIt 1 and MoveIt 2 will remain open-source, community-driven, and supported across third-party hardware platforms – a deliberate move to preserve the trust MoveIt has built within the robotics community over the years.
“Robotics is one of the most exciting frontiers of physical AI, and software is the connective tissue that turns great hardware into great robots,” said Nakul Duggal, Qualcomm’s EVP overseeing robotics. PickNik founder Dave Coleman echoed that sentiment, saying the acquisition will let the company accelerate its mission while preserving the openness that made MoveIt successful in the first place. PickNik CEO Dave Grant added that MoveIt is entering a new chapter, with the resources and support to expand its reach and build on its existing momentum.
Tighter Integration With Qualcomm’s Hardware
The real strategic shift here is integration. MoveIt, along with PickNik’s commercial platform MoveIt Pro, will become more closely tied to Qualcomm’s Dragonwing robotics platforms – giving developers a more direct route from AI models to motion planning, manipulation, and real-time control. The goal is to shorten the gap between prototyping and production for robotics applications built on Dragonwing hardware.
The integration will also extend to Arduino’s new VENTUNO Q boards, aiming to bring advanced robotics and edge AI capabilities to a much broader base of developers – not just specialized robotics companies.
What’s Next
Qualcomm and PickNik are both founding members of the Open Source Robotics Alliance, and Qualcomm says it will continue backing major open-source projects like Space ROS. The acquisition is still subject to standard closing conditions, but if it goes through as planned, it could mark one of the more significant bets yet on open-source robotics becoming the foundation for the next generation of physical AI – built not by one company alone, but by the wider developer community Qualcomm is now betting on.
