Humanoid robots from Figure, Unitree, Tesla Optimus and others, plus robot arms, embodied AI and self-driving cars.
Figure just unveiled its next-generation humanoid robot, the Figure 02. The new machine packs a custom 2.25 kWh battery for over 20 hours of daily uptime, an integrated exoskeleton, six RGB cameras, and hands with 16 degrees of freedom. With three times the onboard CPU and GPU power of its predecessor, it is built to execute autonomous AI tasks directly on the factory floor.
Nvidia just unveiled a suite of simulation tools and NIM microservices that let developers teleoperate humanoid robots using Apple's Vision Pro. By tracking hand gestures through the headset, Nvidia's MimicGen service generates synthetic training data from minimal demonstrations, slashing the time and cost needed to train models like Project Groot.
OpenAI-backed Figure just teased Figure 02, its next-generation humanoid robot set to debut on August 6, 2024. The teaser shows off sleek new joints, flexible mesh body designs, and torques reaching 150Nm. Founder Brett Adcock boldly claims it will be the most advanced humanoid robot on the planet.
The US Air Force is funding five mystery companies to develop autonomous AI brains for its Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) fleet, keeping the roster classified to block prying eyes. The software will eventually fly drones built by General Atomics and Anduril, with a final production bake-off scheduled for 2026.
NVIDIA just announced a full suite of services, models, and computing platforms for humanoid robot developers at SIGGRAPH. Key additions include new NIM microservices for synthetic motion data, an OSMO orchestration cloud service that cuts development cycles from months to under a week, and a teleoperation workflow using Apple Vision Pro to turn tiny amounts of human demonstration into massive training data. Early access is now open via NVIDIA's developer program.
Elon Musk just announced that Tesla will have genuinely useful Optimus humanoid robots in low production for internal factory use next year, pushing back his earlier target of late this year. If all goes to plan, Musk hopes to scale into high production for external customers by 2026.
Google DeepMind just hooked up Gemini 1.5 Pro to its discontinued Everyday Robots hardware, turning them into autonomous office navigators. The bot can process spoken commands and even follow hand-drawn whiteboard maps across a 9,000-square-foot office, notching a 90% success rate across 50 employee interactions.
Tesla just showcased its second-generation Optimus humanoid robot at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, making it a rare U.S. presence at the event. However, the unit remained completely stationary inside a glass enclosure without visitor interaction. While Elon Musk believes Optimus could eventually catapult Tesla to a $25 trillion valuation, mass production remains some ways off.
Endiatx just moved its PillBot, a swallowable mini-robot equipped with pumpjet thrusters and cameras, into clinical trials. Doctors can remotely navigate it inside a patient's stomach via an app for virtual endoscopies, replacing invasive hospital visits. The team is also adding AI to assist with preliminary diagnosis and autonomous navigation, aiming for a 2026 launch.
OpenAI just restarted its in-house robotics research group after pulling the plug three years ago. The company is now actively hiring engineers to train multimodal models for partner robots, confirming that after backing Figure AI, it wants a direct hand in shaping embodied intelligence.
Hugging Face just launched LeRobot, an open-source robotics library designed to act as the "Transformers for robotics." The toolkit includes pretrained models, simulation integrations, and lightweight dataset tools to control hardware from robotic arms to humanoids. Why it matters: Hugging Face is betting on open-source and crowdsourced data to prevent big tech from monopolizing physical AI.
Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center just unveiled Tiangong, a full-sized electric humanoid robot that runs steadily at 6 km/h with human-like motion. Weighing 43 kg, it navigates slopes blindly and will serve as an open-source base platform for developers.
Sanctuary AI just unveiled the seventh-generation Phoenix humanoid, promising lower manufacturing costs and task learning times under 24 hours. The update focuses on upper-body dexterity, a lighter frame, and longer uptime as the company prepares to deploy systems into Magna auto facilities.
Boston Dynamics just introduced an all-electric Atlas humanoid, ditching its iconic hydraulics for custom high-powered electric actuators. The new design is sleeker, lacks exposed cables, and can pull off uncanny 180-degree joint rotations to stand straight up from the floor. Commercial pilot testing kicks off at Hyundai facilities early next year.
Elon Musk just posted on X that Tesla will officially unveil its long-promised robotaxi on August 8th. The autonomous vehicle is reportedly built on Tesla's next-generation platform, as reports surface that the company is shelving its $25,000 mass-market EV to go all-in on self-driving.
Apple is reportedly exploring personal home robotics after ditching its electric vehicle project in February. Engineers are looking into mobile bots that follow users around the house as well as robotic tabletop smart displays. It could give Apple a new hardware vehicle for AI, though any actual product remains years away.
Uber and Waymo just launched autonomous food delivery across the Phoenix metro area using Waymo's self-driving cars. Uber Eats customers within the 225-square-mile zone may be matched with an autonomous vehicle, with instructions to unlock the trunk using their phone—though they can still opt for a human courier at checkout.
Ola Electric CEO Bhavish Aggarwal just teased the Ola Solo, a driverless electric scooter concept packed with self-balancing tech. While the April Fools video poked fun with joke specs like an 'LMAO9000' chip, Aggarwal clarified the underlying autonomous two-wheeler tech is real and actively in prototyping for future vehicles.
Unitree just achieved a standing backflip with its H1 humanoid, making it the first bipedal robot to land the trick using electric joint motors instead of heavy hydraulics. Trained via reinforcement learning simulation, the bot relies on custom M107 motors pushing 360 Nm of torque. It is a major proof point for electric dynamic agility.
Nvidia just introduced Project GR00T, a general-purpose foundation model platform tailored for humanoid robots, alongside a dedicated Jetson Thor computer powered by the Blackwell architecture. Almost every major robotics player—from Boston Dynamics to Figure AI—is already on board, positioning the chip giant as the core brain behind embodied AI.
