Physical AI & robotics news
- · Industry
Figure Announces Pretraining Project
Figure announced “Project Go-Big: Internet-Scale Humanoid Pretraining and Direct Human-to-Robot Transfer” in an official news post.
- · Partnerships & M&A
ABB Robotics and PSYONIC to Improve Robot Dexterity Using Data From Human Prosthetic Use
ABB Robotics is partnering with PSYONIC to improve robot grasping and dexterity using data from human prosthetic use.
- · Product launches
GENISOM AI debuts fully integrated embodied AI system, including M1 quadruped, at ICRA 2026
GENISOM AI debuted a fully integrated embodied AI system at ICRA 2026.
- · Product launches
LimX Dynamics Raises $200 Million in Series B
Robotics company LimX Dynamics announced that it raised $200 million in a Series B round.
- · Deployment & production
ADLINK and Noble Machines Form Strategic Partnership on General-Purpose Robots for Heavy Industry
ADLINK Technology has signed a strategic partnership and joint development agreement with Noble Machines and will provide its edge AI platform.
- · Industry
Galbot Wins Gold at World Humanoid Robot Games
PR Newswire reported that Beijing-based Galbot won gold in the robot skills competition at the inaugural World Humanoid Robot Games.
- · Product launches
Galbot’s S1 Robot Offers 8 Hours of Operation and Automatic Battery Swapping
Galbot’s S1 can operate for up to 8 hours and automatically swap its battery. It has been deployed on a CATL production line.
- · Product launches
R2 Labs CEO Explains Software-Defined Manufacturing on Podcast
In episode 258 of The Robot Report podcast, the CEO of R2 Labs discussed software-defined manufacturing.
- · Product launches
Dyna Robotics unveils robot foundation model trained on 1 million hours of human video
Dyna Robotics unveiled DYNA-2, a robot foundation model trained on more than 1 million hours of human egocentric video.
- · Product launches
Humanoid Becomes Europe’s First Pure-Play Humanoid Robotics Unicorn
UK-based Humanoid raised $152 million in a Series A round, reaching a valuation of $1.35 billion and becoming Europe’s first pure-play humanoid robotics unicorn.
- · Partnerships & M&A
Bosch Pledges to Strengthen Automation and Robotics Technologies in Berlin
On June 10, 2026, Bosch pledged to strengthen foundational technologies for automation and robotics at Bosch Connected World in Berlin.
- · Product launches
Waymo raises $16 billion
Waymo announced Feb. 2 that it received a $16 billion investment. Its post-money valuation is $126 billion, the company said.
- · Partnerships & M&A
DAF and Einride to jointly develop Level 4 autonomous electric trucks
DAF Trucks and Sweden’s Einride have partnered to integrate Einride’s autonomous driving system into DAF electric trucks, aiming to commercialize Level 4 autonomous driving.
- · Partnerships & M&A
Uber Signs Agreement With Hinomaru Kotsu for Tokyo Robotaxi Trial
Uber Japan announced on the 13th that it had signed an operating partnership agreement with Hinomaru Kotsu for a robotaxi trial in Tokyo planned for the second half of 2026.
- · Product launches
1X Announces NEO Factory Opening and Start of Mass Production
1X announced that it has begun mass production at its NEO factory in Hayward, California.
- · Partnerships & M&A
Mercedes-Benz to Pilot Apollo Humanoid Robots at Manufacturing Sites
Mercedes-Benz announced a commercial agreement to pilot Apollo humanoid robots from U.S. company Apptronik at its manufacturing facilities.
- · Product launches
Apptronik opens ‘Robot Park’
automate.org reported that Apptronik opened an approximately 90,000-square-foot testing space called ‘Robot Park’ in Austin, Texas.
- · Industry
Tesla Highlights Optimus’ Hand Performance
Yahoo Finance reported that Tesla CEO Elon Musk discussed the precision of the human hand during an earnings call and said he aims to give Optimus human-level or greater dexterity.
- · Product launches
Tesla to convert Fremont factory for Optimus production
Tesla said during its earnings call that it will convert its Fremont, California, factory for production of Optimus robots. It also said it plans to end production of the Model S and Model X in the second quarter.
- · Partnerships & M&A
NEURA Robotics and Dassault Systèmes announce partnership to scale Physical AI
NEURA Robotics and Dassault Systèmes announced a partnership on April 23, 2026, to scale Physical AI.
- · Partnerships & M&A
NEURA Robotics and AWS Announce Strategic Collaboration to Advance Physical AI
NEURA Robotics and Amazon Web Services announced a strategic collaboration to accelerate Physical AI.
- · Product launches
HaoCun Technology Unveils Data Glove That Records Hand Movements and Tactile Sensations Simultaneously
leaderobot.com reported that HaoCun Technology has unveiled a new data glove that can simultaneously record finger-joint angles, arm posture and tactile sensations.
- · Partnerships & M&A
Microagi Partners With Google Cloud to Accelerate AI Robotics Development
Munich-based AI startup Microagi announced a partnership with Google Cloud on July 22, 2026. The company will use Google Cloud’s AI infrastructure and the NVIDIA Blackwell platform to scale training of embodied AI models.
- · Product launches
1X releases video of NEO Beta competing with a chef in a steak-cooking challenge
On Nov. 8, 2024, 1X released a video of NEO Beta competing with chef Nick DiGiovanni in a steak-cooking challenge.
- · Partnerships & M&A
1X Acquires Humanoid Robot Company Kind Humanoid
On Jan. 27, 2025, 1X announced its acquisition of Kind Humanoid, which is based in Palo Alto. CEO Bernt Bornich said Kind Humanoid CEO Christoph Kohstall’s joining 1X’s Bay Area team would accelerate the path to humanoid adoption. The companies share a vision of robots that “live and learn alongside humans.”
- · Product launches
1X Establishes 1X World Model Lab to Research World Models for Fully Autonomous Humanoids
On June 4, 2026, 1X announced the establishment of a new research organization, 1X World Model Lab, to accelerate the development of fully autonomous humanoids.
- · Product launches
Mimic Robotics Announces New Class of Video-Action Models Based on Video Models
Mimic Robotics announced mimic-video, proposing a new class of Video-Action Models (VAMs) that builds robot policies on pretrained video models.
- · Partnerships & M&A
Mimic Robotics Announces FLUX-mimic Robot Video-Action Model in Collaboration With Black Forest Labs
Mimic Robotics, in collaboration with Black Forest Labs, announced a preview of FLUX-mimic, a next-generation video-action model designed to enable general-purpose dexterous movements in robots.
- · Industry
Unitree shares fall about 45% after first-day surge
Shares of Hangzhou-based Unitree plunged, sharply reducing its market capitalization.
- · Funding
Asteria to Invest in U.S.-Based Figure AI
Asteria announced Aug. 13 that it will invest in U.S.-based humanoid robot company Figure AI.