Internal sales data reveals Humane is now seeing more AI Pins returned than purchased, with only about 7,000 units left in customer hands. Worse, carrier limitations mean returned $699 devices can’t even be refurbished and resold. Why it matters: After raising over $200M from tech heavyweights, Silicon Valley's buzziest hardware bet is rapidly turning into literal e-waste.
Google just introduced the Google TV Streamer, a faster 4K streaming box that officially replaces the Chromecast. The device doubles as a smart home hub and leans on Gemini technology to curate recommendations, write season breakdowns, and generate ambient screensaver art.
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.
Tech-loaded "AI toothbrushes" from giants like P&G, Colgate, and Philips might not actually improve your oral health, according to an Ars Technica investigation. Instead, the embedded sensors and companion apps serve as a direct pipeline for brands to capture real-world brushing habits, feed internal R&D, and pitch personalized product ads. Why it matters: The AI hype wave has officially entered your bathroom, and your daily hygiene routine is now prime behavioral data.
Avi Schiffmann just unveiled Friend, a $99 screenless AI pendant built solely for emotional companionship. The Bluetooth necklace constantly listens to your day and texts you like a real friend rather than helping with work, backed by $2.5M in funding with shipments slated for January 2025.
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.
Samsung just launched the Galaxy Ring, its first-ever smart ring priced at $399 with a battery life of up to seven days. The lightweight titanium device uses Galaxy AI to analyze biometrics and deliver personalized daily health scores. Why it matters: unlike market leader Oura, it requires no monthly subscription fee.
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.
Solos just unveiled the AirGo Vision, taking direct aim at Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. The new eyewear features a temple-mounted camera powered by GPT-4o for visual search, with the freedom to swap to Gemini or Claude. It uses a modular design with swappable frames, though it only takes photos and skips video. It launches later this year.
Reverse-engineering group Rabbitude just revealed that Rabbit left critical API keys hardcoded in its codebase, allegedly allowing anyone to access every response the R1 has ever given. The keys could also let attackers brick devices or alter responses. Rabbit stated it was alerted on June 25 and has found no evidence of compromised user data so far.
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.
Ai Build just released Aibuild 2.0, adding an OpenAI-powered assistant named Talk to AI directly into its industrial 3D printing software. Engineers can now type plain text like "slice the part with 2mm layer height" to automatically configure simulations and toolpaths. Bringing natural language prompts to industrial additive manufacturing could slash setup time from days to minutes.
Apple is reportedly shelving plans for its next premium Vision headset to focus entirely on a cheaper, lighter model codenamed N109. Aiming for late 2025, the company wants to cut weight by at least a third and hit a price tag between $1,500 and $2,500, though cost-cutting challenges could delay that timeline.
Microsoft just officially launched its new Surface Laptop and Surface Pro Copilot+ PCs starting at $999. Powered by Snapdragon X series processors and dedicated NPUs, the machines enable on-device experiences like real-time Cocreator image generation and system-wide Live Captions. It marks Microsoft's first major hardware push to make on-device Windows AI a practical reality.
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.
