Google parent Alphabet Inc. is dismantling its robotics effort after less than three years and aims to sell Boston Dynamics, the legged-robot maker that was the centerpiece of the program, according to people familiar with the matter. The moves reflect internal disagreements about the direction of Boston Dynamics and concerns about Alphabet’s ability to make money from robots as the company increases its scrutiny of costs, said the people familiar with the matter.

In addition to Boston Dynamics, Google bought at least six other robotics firms in 2013, combined them into a group dubbed Replicant—a nod to the 1982 science-fiction movie “Blade Runner”—and tapped Android co-founder Andy Rubin to run it.