Starbucks is investing heavily in artificial intelligence and automation to speed service, support baristas, and restore growth – betting that technology can strengthen, not replace, human connection.
Skild AI raised nearly $1.4 billion in a funding round led by SoftBank, valuing the robotics AI company at more than $14 billion as it scales a unified foundation model for robots.
Mobileye agreed to acquire humanoid robotics startup Mentee Robotics for $900 million, expanding its autonomy technology from vehicles into Physical AI and general-purpose humanoid robots.
Boston Dynamics and Google have renewed their collaboration at CES 2026, combining advanced AI with the next generation of the Atlas humanoid robot.
Kodiak has entered a strategic agreement with Bosch to scale production-grade autonomous trucking hardware, aiming to accelerate commercial deployment of driverless trucks.
UPS has purchased hundreds of warehouse robots designed to unload packages from trucks, expanding automation across its U.S. logistics network to address labor strain and efficiency demands.
Mercado Libre has entered a commercial agreement with Agility Robotics to deploy Digit humanoid robots in its logistics operations, starting with a pilot facility in Texas.