Pollen Robotics and Hugging Face have unveiled Microduck, a $399 open-source 25-centimeter robot with 15 motors, LiDAR, and a camera, capable of walking, recovering from falls, kicking, picking up objects, and rollerblading, with new skills trainable in simulation via reinforcement learning and transferable to the physical robot.
Approximately 2,000 humanoid robots competed at the second World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, with robot Lightning running 100 meters in 9.32 seconds to beat Usain Bolt’s human world record of 9.58 seconds, while football, boxing, and weightlifting events produced a stream of spectacular failures alongside the milestones.
Galaxy Corp. has officially opened its 16,500 square-meter Robot Park in Seoul, featuring AI-powered humanoid robots performing K-pop concerts and taekwondo routines, after attracting more than 20,000 visitors during its pre-opening period since July.
Amazon has selected Austin, Texas as the site of a new multibillion-dollar robotics manufacturing facility, expected to create 300 to 500 manufacturing and engineering jobs, deepening the company’s existing $100 billion investment in the state since 2010.
Chinese robotics startup Dexmal is in talks to raise fresh funding at a valuation of approximately 20 billion yuan, roughly $3 billion, following previous rounds led by Alibaba and NIO Capital as investor appetite for Chinese embodied AI companies reaches new intensity in 2026.
Generalist AI has released GEN-1.5, a robot foundation model that achieves 59% average success on new physical tasks from a single 3-12 second demonstration with no training, rising to 83% with 10 gradient steps on 5 minutes of data, representing the first broad one-shot physical skill learning to emerge at scale.
Amazon has announced Prime Air drone delivery will expand to nearly 500 U.S. cities and towns by end of 2026, a sixfold increase from its current footprint, with thousands of daily deliveries already occurring across 11 active sites in seven states and five more metro areas launching soon.
LimX Dynamics has confidentially filed for a Hong Kong IPO targeting several hundred million dollars, working with Citic Securities, as the Alibaba-backed humanoid robot maker follows its $200 million pre-IPO round with a public listing push amid a record year for Hong Kong technology offerings.
Swiss startup Gravis Robotics has raised $200 million in a Series A from SoftBank at a $1 billion post-money valuation, bringing AI-powered autonomy and operator assistance to heavy construction equipment including excavators and earth-moving machinery for customers including Caterpillar, Hitachi, and Volvo.
Senior NVIDIA officials visited LG Electronics’ Yangjae Data Factory in Seoul four days after the companies’ Santa Clara MOU signing, with LG targeting 100,000 hours of combined real and synthetic robot training data by year-end to advance its Robot Foundation Model.
Beijing-based Robotera is considering a Hong Kong IPO that could raise $800 million to $1 billion, according to Bloomberg, as the HSG-backed humanoid robotics company operates robots in more than 10 logistics centers through partnerships with China Post and SF Group.
Unitree Robotics has unveiled Superman, a new humanoid robot that achieves a standing jump of over 2 meters – exceeding the human world record of 1.90 meters – and a top speed of 12.66 meters per second, surpassing Usain Bolt’s peak of 12.42 meters per second, developed in just over three months.
NEURA Robotics is acquiring the ACTIVE Shuttle automated guided vehicle from Bosch Rexroth, effective October 1, 2026, integrating the proven industrial intralogistics platform into its Physical AI ecosystem alongside its humanoid, mobile, and industrial robot lineup.
The second World Humanoid Robot Games opens in Beijing on August 22 with 666 teams and 2,056 robots from 16 countries, quadrupling robot participation from the inaugural 2025 event, with new events including weightlifting, long jump, and table tennis alongside expanded real-world scenario competitions.
Pony.ai and Uber have expanded their strategic partnership to deploy more than 2,000 Pony.ai robotaxis across four additional European cities beyond the existing Zagreb service, with Middle East deployment also planned under a three-party model combining autonomous technology, a mobility platform, and local fleet operators.
