Latest news, developments and reporting on Robotics.
Humanoid robots wowed crowds in Shanghai, while startups and BlackBerry move to give them practical skills. China dominates global humanoid production but faces commercialization hurdles.
Generalist AI reportedly raised $200M led by 8VC after launching Gen-1.5 for robot learning.
Airbound, an Indian drone startup, raised $37 million to make air delivery cost-parity with trucking.
Sifted reports European robotics startups raised more in H1 2026 than in the previous two years combined; a separate report highlights Serbian startups to watch, according to VCs.
Xpeng shares fell over 9% in Hong Kong after a weak Q3 delivery forecast, even as its robotics unit raised $900 million at a $6.3 billion valuation.
WRC 2026 panel exposes humanoid robot production bottlenecks; HiDream.ai launches world model; AFAC AI finals set for Shanghai.
Ukraine's Brave1 defense cluster now lets military units order drones built to their own specifications, with $1 billion in orders placed already.
A Chinese humanoid robot ran 100 meters in 9.39 seconds at the World Humanoid Robot Games, surpassing Usain Bolt's 9.58-second human world record.
A real robotic café by Unbounded Dynamics and HOLLYS at WRC demonstrated embodied AI working reliably in a live crowd.
A humanoid robot from Galaxy General played live tennis against Grand Slam winner Zheng Jie at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, marking the first fully autonomous human-robot rally and demonstrating integrated embodied AI.
Unitree's first angel investor made a 140x return and now chairs Galaxy General. Meanwhile, at least 16 Hong Kong professors are founding embodied-AI companies, reshaping the sector.
Zhejiang Humanoid Robotics unveiled its NAVIAI robot lineup at the 2026 World Robot Conference, demonstrating cross-scenario applications from industrial clusters to home cooking.
Two Chinese teams recently showed humanoid robots performing dynamic real-world tasks: a robot played tennis against a professional in a live broadcast, while another drove a go-kart around a track.
At the 2026 World Robot Conference, Wudong Power presented its latent-space world model approach, while Qiyuan Robot began pre-orders for consumer humanoids, signaling a shift from demos to purchases.
ZhiShen Technology unveiled its full-stack robotics lineup at WRC 2026, featuring mass production of over 15,000 robots and applications in security, emergency, and power inspection.
Chinese robotics firms at WRC 2026 showcase embodied AI in real production lines, with billion-yuan orders.
At WRC 2026 in Beijing, embodied AI companies shifted focus from flashy demos to stable long-hour operation and viable business models, with logistics sorting and service scenarios leading the charge.
UBTECH showed real factory lines at WRC; DeepSoma launched a whole-brain simulation platform, two approaches to embodied AI.
At the 2026 World Robot Conference, Xinghai Robotics unveiled model upgrades and new robot platforms, while aerial robot startup Guiyu Technology revealed funding and plans to commercialize autonomous flying agents.
Vatn Systems has agreed with Taiwan's NCSIST to explore joint undersea defense projects, including AI-powered command systems and the modular S12 underwater drones.
FCC ban may affect pool-cleaning robots that operate on water's surface; underwater-only models exempt.
At the 2026 World Robot Conference, Superdynamic KAI showcased the world's first complete autonomous humanoid robot table tennis match and its full-stack embodied AI systems.
Minglue Tech and Hikrobot showcased joint commercial robotics solutions at WRC 2026, as CEO Wu Minghui outlined a vision for robots with dual 'brains' and an open platform to drive embodied AI adoption.
Generalist AI unveiled GEN-1.5, a robot model that learns new tasks from 3-12 second demos without fine-tuning.