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One Year Later, Tesla and Musk Still Lack a Clear Definition of ‘Abundance’
A year after Tesla’s Master Plan IV, Musk still offers broad promises, not a clear definition, of ‘amazing abundance.’
Latest news, developments and reporting on Robotics.
A year after Tesla’s Master Plan IV, Musk still offers broad promises, not a clear definition, of ‘amazing abundance.’
iGarden K70 pool cleaner is $550 off at $749.99 for Amazon Prime Big Deal Days as fall debris builds up.
South Korea marked its 78th Armed Forces Day with 3,600 personnel and about 70 weapons systems, unveiling the Cheongwang laser anti-drone system and other unmanned assets for the first time.
Warehouse robotics software startup Destro AI has raised $8 million in a seed round co-led by Base10 Partners and Bonfire Ventures to expand MothershipOS, its platform for coordinating robots from multiple vendors.
DoorDash introduced a six-propeller delivery drone at Dash Forward 2026 after developing ground loading, handoff and packaging systems. It plans early pilot deliveries in Northern California with Chipotle, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and Momo N Curry.
DoorDash said Wednesday it is launching an AI agent that lets U.S. users order food through Apple Messages and will begin testing delivery drones with select Northern California restaurants.
Destro AI emerged from stealth with an $8 million seed round, pitching an AI layer that directs both logistics robots and human workers. Yusen Logistics is expanding a three-robot pilot to 26 robots and adding a 17-robot test in Southern California.
DoorDash will launch drone deliveries first in northern California, with Chipotle and Popeyes among the first partners.
At IROS 2026, TU Delft professor Javier Alonso-Mora presented mobile manipulation, task and motion planning and aerial multi-robot research, including drones with arms and a 2026-2030 construction project.
At ECCV 2026 and in tests reported on September 30, researchers and companies moved AI beyond visual recognition: NVIDIA generated missing audio and manipulation data, GPT-6 Astra controlled a Unitree G1 and a gimbal, while office agents exposed the gap between execution and judgment.
On September 30, 2026, advances in robot-free training data, physics-aware video generation and large-scale agent sandboxes were disclosed by teams in China and the U.S., alongside new claims about high-degree-of-freedom dexterous hands.
A QbitAI ROBO review of 36 listed robot-related companies in A-share and Hong Kong markets shows humanoid revenue is emerging at a few firms, while most remain far from stable profits and cash flow as regulators reportedly slow some humanoid IPOs.
A Leiphone report says Chinese visuotactile sensor makers reject the idea that their technology is simply a camera plus silicone, pointing to materials, calibration, durability, frame rates and data-model integration as hard barriers.
On Sept. 29, Guoxing Intelligent launched 11 special robots for high-risk scenarios in Yantai and signed supercomputing cooperation, while iQOO unveiled the iQOO16 smartphone and Pad Ultra in Shenzhen, both highlighting embodied intelligence and high-performance product applications, Leiphone reported.
Stanford's Movement Lab and Caltech have connected GPT Astra to a Unitree G1 in the HomeBody project, letting the humanoid explore a kitchen, remember object locations and execute long-horizon tasks through local skills rather than end-to-end action generation.
General Intuition raised $220 million at a $6.2 billion valuation to expand synthetic video world models and test a commercial version.
Japan aims to put 10 million AI-powered robots into workplaces by 2040 as its population is projected to fall to about 112 million and age further. Startups and insurers are already preparing robots and policies for workplaces, TechRadar reported.
Russia’s USC unveiled underwater robots for oil, gas and maritime repair, claiming faster response and routine inspections.
Tesla secured $30B in credit lines from Citibank and Wells Fargo to help scale the Cybercab, Optimus, and Semi.
Nebius and NVIDIA have opened applications for the 2026 Physical AI Awards, offering $150,000 in compute credits in each of five categories. Entries close October 25, 2026, with finalists and winners named in mid-November.
According to Lei Feng News, Yuandian Robotics’ Xiaoqiao humanoid robot sold out its first 1,000 units within a week of its Sept. 2 launch and won the top IFA 2026 award in Next & Emerging Technologies. A Bilibili creator also used it to recreate a puppet from A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality.
British parcel firm Evri has begun Europe's first trial of a two-legged delivery robot in Barnsley, working with Japan's Refined Robotics. The robot climbs stairs, carries up to 15kg and is meant to assist couriers rather than replace them.
Striding AI said co-founder Yang Yuxin has become president, responsible for global market expansion, ecosystem building and commercialization. Yang, formerly CMO at Black Sesame Technologies, will help push the company's embodied AI stack into real commercial and industrial scenarios.
At IROS 2026, China's PHYBOT presented a humanoid badminton system that separates tactical decisions from whole-body execution, with a 1.35-meter robot trading more than 40 shots in a rally with a human.