Technology Toymaker Ugobe Goes Bankrupt Sending Robot Dinosaur Pleo Into Extinction

April 21, 2009 10:34 a.m. EST

Eagle, ID (AHN) - The nation's ongoing recession has apparently dried up demand for "machines with soul."

Technology toymaker Ugobe has laid off all its employees and filed for bankruptcy.

The Eagle, ID-based company was the creator of the lovable robot dinosaur known as Pleo.

About 100,000 Pleo dinosaurs were sold in 2008 and Ugobe took in $20 million, but it still had $3.6 million in unpaid liabilities, including $353,500 in unpaid royalties to the creators of its Pleo and Furby toys.

On its Website, Ugobe had touted its dinosaur robot for blurring the lines between humans and machines.

"Ugobe transforms the relationship humans have with technology by giving machines a soul. We are the first company to transform the relationship between humans and robots by blending emotions and personality with logic in machines," company officials had said in a statement referring to its Pleo robot.

Now it looks like the Pleo is going extinct unless another toy maker steps forward.