Physical AI & robotics news
- · Product launches
NVIDIA Announces Newton 1.0 GA, a Physics Engine
NVIDIA announced the 1.0 GA release of Newton, a physics engine for industrial robotics, on March 16, 2026.
- · Research & technology
NVIDIA Research Announces Three Neural Technologies to Transform Robot Learning
NVIDIA Research announced three neural technologies for robot learning on September 25, 2025.
- · Product launches
NVIDIA unveils method to turn real-world scenes into interactive simulations instantly
NVIDIA announced a method for instantly turning real-world scenes into interactive simulations.
- · Product launches
NVIDIA unveils Holoscan Sensor Bridge for real-time sensor data processing
NVIDIA announced Holoscan Sensor Bridge on June 12, 2025, to transfer sensor data directly to GPUs over Ethernet.
- · Policy & regulation
METI selects Noetra to develop domestic physical AI foundation model
Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) announced June 30 that it had selected startup Noetra as the central recipient of support for developing a domestic physical AI foundation model. Development contract costs for the first year total ¥387.3 billion, and the project will run for five years, from fiscal 2026 through fiscal 2030. Noetra and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology were selected in a NEDO call for proposals.
- · Product launches
NVIDIA Unveils Suite of Open Models, Including Cosmos for Physical AI and Alpamayo for Autonomous Driving
On January 5, 2026, NVIDIA released open models spanning industries, including Nemotron for agentic AI, Cosmos for physical AI, Alpamayo for autonomous driving, Isaac GR00T for robotics and Clara for health care. It also made large-scale open datasets available, including 10 trillion language tokens, 500,000 robot trajectories, 455,000 protein structures and 100 terabytes of vehicle sensor data. Bosch, Humanoid and Franka Robotics, among others, have announced plans to use them.
- · Product launches
LeRobot v0.4.0 Released With Support for Large Datasets and VLA Model Integration
Hugging Face released LeRobot v0.4.0, a framework for robot learning.
- · Research & technology
Hugging Face Publishes ‘LIBERO’ Dataset for Robot Manipulation Training
The ‘physical-intelligence/libero’ dataset for imitation learning in robot manipulation has been published on Hugging Face.
- · Product launches
Physical Intelligence releases family of foundation models for robots
Physical Intelligence released a family of open-source models for robots.
- · Research & technology
DeepMind Releases MuJoCo Physics Simulator on GitHub
Google DeepMind has released the MuJoCo physics simulator on GitHub.
- · Product launches
Enactic Releases URDF Description Files for OpenArm Robot
Enactic has released URDF description files for the OpenArm robot system on GitHub.
- · Industry
Pudu Robotics Ranks No. 1 Worldwide in Four Commercial Service Robotics Categories
Pudu Robotics said a Frost & Sullivan study ranked it No. 1 worldwide in four commercial service robotics categories.
- · Industry
Pudu Robotics CEO Shares Views on Scaling Embodied AI at Summer Davos
Felix Zhang, founder and CEO of Pudu Robotics, shared his views on scaling embodied AI at the 2026 Summer Davos Forum, held in Dalian from June 23 to 25, 2026.
- · Industry
The Robot Report highlights humanoid market growth and challenges of integrated design
The Robot Report examined the importance of integrated design for commercializing humanoid robots. The article cited McKinsey’s view that the general-purpose robotics market could grow significantly in the future.
- · Product launches
Physical Intelligence Releases Code and Weights for π0 Robotics Foundation Model
Physical Intelligence has released the code and weights for its π0 robotics foundation model as open source.
- · Product launches
Xiangmuguo Introduces Robotics Technology Centered on Manipulation Instinct
Robot Lecture Hall published an article saying Xiangmuguo is pursuing a technical approach that emphasizes “manipulation instinct,” unlike the mainstream VLA approach.
- · Industry
Liu Yang Outlines Stages and Technical Approach for Embodied Intelligence at Annual Conference
leaderobot.com reported on a speech by Liu Yang, co-founder of Yuanli Infinite, at the 6th China Robotics Industry Annual Conference in Hangzhou.
- · Funding
Unitree Robotics sets offering price at 150.80 yuan
Unitree Robotics announced an offering price of 150.80 yuan per share for its STAR Market IPO. Online and offline subscriptions will begin Aug. 10.
- · Funding
Is Hangzhou the “World’s No. 1 City for Intelligent Bionic Robots”? Robot Lecture Hall Reports
Robot Lecture Hall reported on Aug. 9, 2026, that Hangzhou had become the world’s “No. 1 city” for intelligent bionic robots. According to the report, Hangzhou accounted for 56.9% of China’s intelligent bionic robot exports in the first half of 2026. Based on the report, we examine the reality of Hangzhou’s robotics industry cluster and the significance of Chinese companies’ investments in mass production and data infrastructure.
- · Product launches
Zhicheng AI CEO Takes on Generalization Challenges in Embodied Intelligence With World Models
Zhicheng AI CEO Hu Luhui called for using world models to solve generalization challenges at the company’s annual conference in Hangzhou.
- · Funding
leaderobot.com reports on July 2026 robot investment trends; 13 deals focused on core components
leaderobot.com reported that core components accounted for 13 of 52 investments in China's robotics sector in July 2026, or 25% of the total. Humanoid robots and embodied intelligence led with 19 deals, but funding also extended to upstream areas including tactile sensing, joints and data. The article points to a shift in market focus from complete robots alone to the components that support mass production.
- · Funding
Yanmar Holdings and Hitachi Construction Machinery Agree to Explore Collaboration on Compact Equipment
ITmedia reported on August 10, 2026, that Yanmar Holdings and Hitachi Construction Machinery had signed a basic agreement to explore potential collaboration on compact construction equipment.
- · Funding
Sodick Raises Earnings Forecast
ITmedia reported that Sodick raised its earnings forecast for the fiscal year ending December 2026.
- · Product launches
VicOne Releases Free Isaac Sim Extension
The Robot Report reported that VicOne released a free extension, “Radeis Extension,” for NVIDIA Isaac Sim.
- · Industry
China Highlights a Wide Range of Drone Applications
An article covering the development and use of drone technology in China has been published. It discusses applications in commercial, agricultural, logistics, construction and government sectors.
Introduction to World Models: How Robots Predict the Future and Act
A world model is an internal model that robots and AI use to predict the “next state” of their environment. This lets them simulate outcomes before acting, enabling more efficient and safer behavior. World models are drawing attention as a foundational technology for AI operating in the real world, including self-driving cars and household robots.
An Introduction to NVIDIA Cosmos: A World Model That Teaches Robots ‘Common Sense About the World’
NVIDIA Cosmos is a foundation model that helps robots and autonomous driving AI learn the “rules of the world” in virtual environments before operating in the real world. It learns physical laws and how objects move from vast amounts of video and generates realistic synthetic data. This reduces trial and error with physical machines and accelerates AI development.
NVIDIA Isaac Basics: Understanding the Roles of Sim, Lab and ROS
NVIDIA Isaac is a suite of platforms for robot development, comprising a simulation environment (Isaac Sim), a reinforcement learning framework (Isaac Lab) and libraries for the Robot Operating System (Isaac ROS). Each has a distinct role—training in a virtual environment, implementing learning algorithms and deploying to physical robots—helping streamline the development process. This article explains the differences among the three tools and how they work together for beginners.
- · Tenders
METI Announces Tender for Supply Chain Survey on Humanoid Robots and Related Technologies
Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced open competitive bidding for a commissioned survey on the supply chains for humanoid robots and related technologies.
How to Read China's Humanoid Industry: Key Player Types and the Secrets Behind Mass Production and Pricing Strength
China's humanoid industry is divided into three types of players: major EV companies, robotics specialists and internet giants, each with different strengths. The sources of their mass-production capacity and price competitiveness are threefold: supply chains, government support and data collection. The latest specific figures are fluid, but the industry as a whole is evolving rapidly.