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Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and NVIDIA have announced the world’s first national AI infrastructure dedicated to physical AI, built around an NVIDIA Vera Rubin AI factory with 27,500 Rubin GPUs and 140 megawatts of capacity, targeting Japan’s goal of capturing 30% of the global AI robotics market by 2040.

MicroWatt Controls has launched the ExR-2.5, the first inspection robot certified under the new UL 6260 framework for potentially explosive industrial environments in North America, targeting oil and gas, LNG, and chemical facilities where worker exposure to hazardous conditions drives adoption.

Xpeng is targeting monthly production capacity of more than 1,000 IRON humanoid robots by end of 2026, with deployment as showroom sales assistants in China in Q1 2027 and international expansion later that year, backed by a 110,000 square-meter production base under construction in Guangzhou.

The global hybrid robots market is forecast to grow from $4.93 billion in 2025 to $10.03 billion by 2030 at a 15.3% CAGR, driven by AI advances, edge computing, autonomous field operations, and accelerating smart factory adoption across manufacturing, logistics, and defense.

Scientists at Nanyang Technological University Singapore have developed a 3D-printed diving suit that allows remote-controlled cyborg cockroaches to survive underwater for up to three hours, following their deployment during Operation Lionheart after the March 2025 Myanmar earthquake.

Walden Robotics has launched from stealth with $300 million at a $1.1 billion valuation, co-led by Toyota and Deviation Capital, with robots already performing real production work at a Toyota North American plant since February 2026, powered by Large Behavior Models developed at Toyota Research Institute.

Shanghai-based Run Robotics has unveiled a centaur-configuration robot combining a humanoid upper body with a wheeled-legged lower body, capable of carrying 100-120 kg continuously and up to 210 kg statically, designed for nuclear plants, steel mills, oil fields, mining, and emergency response.

UBTECH’s UWORLD U1 companion humanoid has accumulated 13,000 pre-orders, but the critical test arrives in mid-July when final payments are due from pre-order customers, as the company navigates a 35% year-to-date stock decline, a net loss of 703 million yuan in 2025, and intensifying competition from Unitree and LimX.

Researchers at Keio University and MIT Media Lab have developed a soft floating robot that uses helium buoyancy and flapping fins to hover silently indoors, establishing the first systematic design framework for soft floating robots as residential companions.

LimX Dynamics has raised $200 million in a pre-IPO round valuing the company at $2.21 billion, with founder Will Zhang declaring listing a strategic necessity as China’s humanoid sector investment surpassed $6.95 billion in Q2 2026 alone.