Topics

AGIBOT presented its X2 humanoid robot at MWC 2026, highlighting shipment leadership and a shift toward scenario-based, commercial-scale deployment.

Honor introduced a “Robot Phone” at MWC 2026 featuring a 200-megapixel AI tracking camera mounted on a miniature robotic gimbal arm designed for autonomous filming.

Alibaba has unveiled RynnBrain, an artificial intelligence model designed to help robots understand and interact with the physical world, marking the company’s latest move into physical AI and embodied robotics.

China has launched the world’s first humanoid robot free combat league in Shenzhen, turning martial arts-style competition into a real-world testing ground for embodied AI and robotics.

AI researcher Yann LeCun has raised more than $1 billion for a new startup developing AI systems and robots capable of reasoning about the physical world, challenging the dominance of large language models.

XGSynBot has introduced the Z1 wheeled humanoid robot designed for industrial environments, positioning the system as a flexible platform aimed at closing the gap between AI prototypes and real factory automation.

U.K.-based Wayve has secured up to $1.5 billion in new funding to expand its AI-driven autonomous driving software, with robotaxi deployments planned in London and integration into consumer vehicles by 2027.

Overland AI has secured $100 million in new funding as militaries accelerate the shift from testing autonomous ground vehicles to deploying them directly with operational units.

Kodiak has entered a strategic agreement with Bosch to scale production-grade autonomous trucking hardware, aiming to accelerate commercial deployment of driverless trucks.

Google has brought robotics software company Intrinsic fully in house, signaling a major push to integrate its AI models and cloud infrastructure into industrial robotics.

Indian robotics startup CynLr has unveiled its Object Intelligence platform, designed to let robots learn and manipulate previously unseen objects in seconds without offline retraining.

Wing and Walmart will add drone delivery to 150 more stores, aiming to reach over 40 million Americans and build the largest residential drone delivery network in the U.S.

CES 2026 marked a turning point for Physical AI, as humanoids, autonomous machines, and AI-driven platforms moved from experiments to scalable, real-world systems.

Kyoto University researchers have introduced Buddharoid, a humanoid robot monk trained on Buddhist scriptures, as AI begins to expand into cultural and spiritual roles.

Yukai Engineering’s Mirumi, a small robotic bag charm, is entering global markets as robotics companies explore emotionally expressive consumer products tied to fashion and collectibles.

London-based startup Humanoid moved from concept to a functional alpha prototype of its HMND 01 robot in seven months, compressing a development cycle that typically takes up to two years.

Xiaomi has released Robotics-0, an open-source Vision-Language-Action (VLA) model designed to enable real-time perception and control for embodied AI systems, marking a strategic push into foundational robotics software.

CES 2026 marked a turning point for Physical AI, as humanoids, autonomous machines, and AI-driven platforms moved from experiments to scalable, real-world systems.

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.

CES 2026 marked a turning point for Physical AI, as humanoids, autonomous machines, and AI-driven platforms moved from experiments to scalable, real-world systems.

Samsung unveiled its “Companion to AI Living” vision at CES 2026, outlining how AI will connect entertainment, home appliances, health, and services into a unified ecosystem.

Unitree Robotics has introduced the AS2 quadruped robot, combining high-speed mobility, heavy payload capacity, and LiDAR-enabled autonomy for industrial and field applications.

Hefei’s metro system has deployed robot dogs, drones, and humanoid robots to automate inspections, improve safety, and modernize urban rail operations.

Qualcomm and NEURA Robotics have announced a strategic collaboration to develop next-generation robotics platforms, combining edge AI processors with full-stack robotics systems to accelerate the deployment of cognitive robots.

Agility Robotics has rebranded as Agility, signaling plans to expand beyond its current humanoid robot deployments as competition accelerates across the global humanoid robotics market.

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.

Qualcomm introduced a comprehensive robotics technology stack at CES 2026, unveiling new processors and partnerships aimed at scaling Physical AI from service robots to full-size humanoids.