robotics
30 articles about robotics in AI news
AllenAI's MolmoAct2: 720-Hour Bimanual Dataset, Beats GPT-5 on Robotics
AllenAI released MolmoAct2, an open robotics model with a 720-hour bimanual dataset, beating GPT-5 and Gemini Robotics on success rate (89.4% vs 82.1%) with 40% lower latency.
Manycore Tech Pivots from Real Estate to AI Robotics, Hits $1B Valuation
Manycore Tech Inc., a Chinese software company previously focused on real estate, has raised $150 million to pivot into AI and robotics, achieving a $1 billion valuation. The move is led by an Nvidia alumnus and capitalizes on China's strategic push into automation.
AGIBOT Launches $536K 'Reasoning to Action' Challenge for Robotics
AGIBOT has announced a $536,000 prize competition targeting the 'Reasoning to Action' problem in robotics. This challenge aims to bridge high-level reasoning with low-level control, a critical hurdle for deploying generalist robots.
MLX Enables Local Grounded Reasoning for Satellite, Security, Robotics AI
Apple's MLX framework is enabling 'local grounded reasoning' for AI applications in satellite imagery, security systems, and robotics, moving complex tasks from the cloud to on-device processing.
Clone Robotics CEO Critiques Motor Reliance, Touts Fluid-Actuated Humanoids
Clone Robotics CEO Dhanush Radhakrishnan criticizes the industry's reliance on motors and rigid structures, advocating for fluid actuation and Myofiber artificial muscles to achieve more human-like movement.
NVIDIA Advances AI Robotics with Simulation-First Training, Isaac & Jetson
NVIDIA showcased AI robotics advances using foundation models and synthetic environments for training, enabling scalable deployment in real-world sectors like agriculture and solar. Key platforms are the Isaac simulator and Jetson edge AI hardware.
NVIDIA Spotlights Physical AI Tools for Robotics Week 2026
NVIDIA is highlighting its platforms for robot simulation, synthetic data, and AI-powered learning during National Robotics Week 2026, aiming to accelerate the transition from virtual training to physical deployment.
DEEP Robotics Deploys Lynx M20 Wheeled-Legged Quadruped as 'Cyber Tea Farmer' with JD Logistics
DEEP Robotics has deployed its Lynx M20 wheeled-legged quadruped robot in a pilot with JD Logistics, where it is being tested as a 'Cyber Tea Farmer' mobile platform. This represents a real-world field test for a hybrid locomotion robot in a commercial logistics environment.
Unipath Launches Household Robot, Joining China's Push into Consumer Robotics
Chinese company Unipath has launched a household robot. This marks another entry into the competitive consumer robotics market, where Chinese firms are increasingly active.
Unitree Robotics Releases UnifoLM-WBT-Dataset: A Large-Scale, Real-World Robotics Dataset for Embodied AI
Chinese robotics firm Unitree Robotics has open-sourced the UnifoLM-WBT-Dataset, a high-quality dataset derived from real-world robot operations. The release aims to accelerate training for embodied AI and large language models applied to physical systems.
Amazon Acquires Fauna Robotics and Its 3.5-Foot 'Sprout' Humanoid for Real-World Tasks
Amazon has acquired Fauna Robotics, a startup developing the 3.5-foot 'Sprout' humanoid robot designed for real-world manipulation tasks. The move signals Amazon's deepening investment in embodied AI and automation beyond its existing wheeled and arm-based systems.
Unitree Robotics Files for $607.8M Shanghai IPO, A Bellwether for China's Humanoid Robot Industry
Chinese humanoid robotics firm Unitree Robotics has filed for an IPO on Shanghai's Star Market, seeking to raise 4.2B yuan ($607.8M). The listing is seen as a critical test of investor appetite for embodied AI companies.
Elon Musk Predicts AI/Robotics Economy Could Make Goods 'Free' at Million-Scale Productivity
Elon Musk stated that in a future with an AI and robotics economy 'anywhere close to a million times' larger than today's, 'any need you possibly want can be met,' implying goods could become effectively free.
Unitree Robotics Files for $610M IPO on Shanghai Star Market After 335% Revenue Surge
Chinese robotics firm Unitree Robotics has filed for a $610M IPO after revenue jumped 335% to 1.71B yuan in 2024. The company shipped over 30,000 quadruped and 5,500 humanoid robots, with humanoids now driving over half its revenue.
Roseate Hotels Deploys Robotics for Operational Efficiency in Luxury Hospitality
Roseate Hotels is implementing robotics to streamline operations, reflecting a broader trend of AI adoption in the luxury sector. This move aims to enhance efficiency while maintaining high service standards.
Simplexity Robotics Shatters Funding Records, Becoming China's Fastest Embodied AI Unicorn
Chinese startup Simplexity Robotics has raised $280 million in under six months, achieving unicorn status faster than any other company in the embodied AI sector. The massive funding round attracted investments from tech giants Tencent and Alibaba, signaling intense competition in China's robotics landscape.
Silicon Valley AI Startup Targets Japan's Industrial Robotics Crown
Former Google AI researchers have launched Integral AI in Tokyo, aiming to transform Japan's massive industrial robotics sector with AI models that teach robots through observation and language prompts. The startup is already in talks with Toyota, Sony, and other manufacturing giants.
OpenAI's Robotics Ambitions Hit Roadblock as Hardware Chief Departs
OpenAI's head of hardware and robotics has resigned, raising questions about the company's physical AI ambitions. The departure comes as OpenAI faces increasing competition in robotics and hardware integration.
OctaPulse Brings AI Robotics to Aquaculture, Starting with Automated Fish Inspection
OctaPulse, a Y Combinator-backed startup, is deploying robotics and computer vision to automate fish inspection in aquaculture. Their system aims to replace manual sampling methods, reduce fish stress, and provide real-time data for better farming decisions.
Robotics' Scaling Breakthrough: How SONIC's 42M-Parameter Model Achieves Perfect Real-World Transfer
Researchers have demonstrated that robotics can scale like language models, with SONIC training a 42M-parameter model on 100M human motion frames. The system achieved 100% success transferring to real robots without fine-tuning, marking a paradigm shift in robotic learning.
Ethan Mollick: AI's Real Economic Impact Will Be in Robotics, Not Just White-Collar Work
Wharton professor Ethan Mollick argues that while AI is transforming knowledge work, the true economic revolution will occur when AI-powered robots transform the physical economy, echoing past industrial shifts.
Zalando Scales Up AI-Powered Warehouse Robotics in Major Logistics Push
European fashion giant Zalando is significantly expanding its deployment of AI-driven warehouse robots. This move signals a strategic acceleration in automating logistics to handle fashion's complex inventory and seasonal demand spikes.
Microscopic Motor Rotors Enable Untethered Micro-Robotics, Smaller Than a Fingerprint
Researchers have developed a microscopic motor rotor smaller than a fingerprint, using 4 magnets and 4 coils to eliminate power leashes. This enables autonomous flight and diving for micro-drones.
Niantic's Pokémon GO Dataset of 30B Images Now Powers Centimeter-Precise Robotics Vision
Niantic's Lightship VPS, trained on 30 billion images from Pokémon GO players, now enables delivery robots to navigate with centimeter precision. The dataset represents the largest real-world visual positioning system ever created.
Multi-Agent Orchestration for Luxury Retail: The Protocol That Unlicks Automated Warehouses & In-Store Robotics
A new AI protocol enables heterogeneous robots from different vendors to coordinate movement in shared spaces. For luxury retail, this solves critical automation challenges in high-value warehouses and boutique backrooms, allowing seamless integration of diverse robotic systems.
JAEGER Breaks the 2D Barrier: How 3D Audio-Visual AI Could Transform Robotics and AR
Researchers introduce JAEGER, a framework that extends audio-visual large language models into 3D space using RGB-D and spatial audio. This breakthrough enables AI to understand and reason about physical environments with unprecedented spatial awareness.
Odyssey Launches Starchild-1, First Real-Time Multimodal World Model
Odyssey AI released Starchild-1, first real-time multimodal world model for video generation targeting embodied AI and robotics.
Japan Deploys Unitree G1 Robots at Haneda Airport Amid Labor Shortage
Japan is testing Unitree G1 and taller humanoid robots at Tokyo Haneda Airport to tackle its labor shortage crisis, marking a real-world deployment of AI-driven robotics.
Horizon Launches Full-Stack AI Platform for Autonomous Driving
Horizon Robotics launched a trio of products—a new chip, an open-source OS, and a smart driving system—aiming to push cars closer to becoming autonomous AI agents. The platform integrates hardware and software for enhanced perception and decision-making.
Fei-Fei Li Explains Why 'Open the Top Drawer' Is a Hard AI Problem
AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li breaks down why a simple instruction like 'open the top drawer and watch out for the vase' represents a major unsolved challenge in robotics, requiring robust perception, commonsense reasoning, and efficient learning from sparse rewards.