THE CO-FOUNDER OF Android and head of Google’s robotics division, Andy Rubin, is leaving Google after almost spending a decade at the company.

Rubin originally joined Google as part of the company’s acquisition of Android back in 2005 and turned it into the world’s most-popular mobile platform.

In 2013, he switched from that role, which was filled by Sundar Pichai, to lead a number of robotics projects for Google, a longtime passion of his.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Rubin is planning to start an incubator for startups interested in building hardware products. James Kuffner, a research scientist at Google and a member of the robotics group, will now fill Rubin’s role.

Rubin oversaw a number of Google’s acquisitions of numerous robotics companies including Boston Dynamics – best known for its animalistic robots such as the Cheetah and BigDog, Schaft and Meka Robotics.

In a statement, Google’s CEO Larry Page said: “I want to wish Andy all the best with what’s next. With Android he created something truly remarkable – with a billion plus happy users. Thank you.”

Android was acquired by Google in 2005 and was introduced in 2007 to rival the iPhone. It currently has more than one billion active users worldwide.

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