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First Solar inaugurates new $1.1 billion AI-enabled Louisiana manufacturing facility

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First Solar – an American company that manufactures and sells photovoltaic solar power systems, modules, and energy storage solutions – has inaugurated its new fully vertically integrated manufacturing facility in Iberia Parish, Louisiana.

The $1.1 billion facility, which spans approximately 2.4 million square feet and is about 11 times the size of the New Orleans Superdome, currently employs over 700 people and is expected to have 826 employees by the end of the year.

Once fully ramped, the Iberia Parish facility is expected to add 3.5 gigawatts (GW) of annual nameplate capacity, taking First Solar’s American manufacturing footprint to 14 GW in 2026, and 17.7 GW in 2027, when a recently announced production facility in South Carolina is expected to be fully ramped. [Read more…] about First Solar inaugurates new $1.1 billion AI-enabled Louisiana manufacturing facility

Nokia plans to expand US investment by $4 billion in R&D and manufacturing

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Nokia, in collaboration with the Trump administration, has announced plans to expand its US R&D and manufacturing capabilities, investing $4 billion to accelerate innovation in AI-ready mobile, fixed access, IP, optical, and data center networking technologies.

The planned investment over multiple years is in addition to Nokia’s $2.3 billion investment in US manufacturing, R&D, and AI connectivity through its purchase of Infinera.

Additionally, Infinera had previously announced a $456 million investment for two US manufacturing facilities, which received CHIPS Act incentives. [Read more…] about Nokia plans to expand US investment by $4 billion in R&D and manufacturing

AstraZeneca plans $2 billion manufacturing investment in Maryland

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AstraZeneca has announced plans to invest $2 billion to expand its long-standing manufacturing footprint in Maryland.

This includes a significant expansion of its flagship biologics manufacturing facility in Frederick and construction of a new state-of-the-art facility in Gaithersburg for the development and clinical supply of innovative molecules to be used in clinical trials.

The investment will support 2,600 jobs across the two sites in the state including the retention of local roles, construction activity, and the creation of 300 highly skilled jobs. [Read more…] about AstraZeneca plans $2 billion manufacturing investment in Maryland

UAE robotics startup Buildroid raises $2 million to introduce robotics into construction sector

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Buildroid AI, a UAE-based robotics startup focused on automating construction workflows, has emerged from stealth with $2 million in pre-seed investment led by Tim Draper, the early backer of Tesla, SpaceX, Skype and Robinhood.

Founded in 2025 by Slava Solonitsyn and Anton Glance, the company is developing a platform that integrates specialised and general-purpose robots directly into contractor operations.

Solonitsyn is a Y Combinator alumnus who previously founded Mighty Buildings, raising more than $100 million and delivering over 50 3D-printed homes. Glance earlier founded Glance Clock, which was acquired by NeXtime. [Read more…] about UAE robotics startup Buildroid raises $2 million to introduce robotics into construction sector

Agility Robotics’ Digit humanoid passes 100,000-tote milestone in live GXO implementation

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Agility Robotics says its humanoid robot, Digit, has moved more than 100,000 totes in commercial operation at GXO Logistics’ facility in Flowery Branch, Georgia – a milestone the company describes as evidence of real industrial throughput rather than laboratory testing.

The company says the achievement reflects the growing need for scalable automation in logistics as operators face rising volumes and persistent labour shortages.

Agility has long argued that humanoids must prove reliability across thousands of cycles before they can be considered viable tools rather than novelty machines. [Read more…] about Agility Robotics’ Digit humanoid passes 100,000-tote milestone in live GXO implementation

Outrider launches first enterprise-class support services for driverless yard operations

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Outrider, the leader in autonomous yard operations for logistics hubs, has announced the launch of the industry’s first enterprise-class support services designed to maximize the performance and uptime of driverless yard operations.

The new services will support the commercial rollout of the company’s driverless Outrider System in 2026, ensuring Fortune 500 enterprises achieve the full ROI potential of their automation investments.

“Automation is not just confined to the warehouse any longer; it’s making a remarkable leap into the logistics yard,” said Todd Lewis, senior vice president at Prologis Ventures. [Read more…] about Outrider launches first enterprise-class support services for driverless yard operations

Beckhoff USA to supply automation and safety tech for Dexterity’s Mech ‘superhumanoids’

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Dexterity, a provider of enterprise physical AI and robotics, and Beckhoff USA, a pioneer in automation technology and creator of the EtherCAT fieldbus and Safety over EtherCAT (FSoE), have entered into a key supplier agreement for the design and development of Mech “superhumanoid robots”.

Beckhoff provides Dexterity with a wide range of technologies to enable advanced automation and kinematics in current and future robotic solutions such as Mech.

With many notable projects including a collaboration with FedEx and Sagawa Express to deploy truck loading and unloading robots, Dexterity currently has a $1.65 billion valuation and has been cited as being on the fast track to an IPO. [Read more…] about Beckhoff USA to supply automation and safety tech for Dexterity’s Mech ‘superhumanoids’

Sunday unveils new humanoid robot for the home

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Sunday, an AI startup founded by Stanford PhD roboticists Tony Zhao (CEO) and Cheng Chi (CTO), has emerged from stealth to introduce Memo.

Memo is a personal robot engineered to help families gain back time spent on chores like dishes, laundry, and tidying up. Its development centers on learning from authentic daily routines collected in more than 500 real homes using Sunday’s patented Skill Capture Glove, a wearable that records how people move, clean, and organize.

Memo puts household data at the heart of personal robotics. Unlike most in-home robots, Memo’s training comes from approximately 10 million episodes of genuine household routines, representing an unmatched level of data diversity, quality, and in-the-wild volume. [Read more…] about Sunday unveils new humanoid robot for the home

Delta Electronics unveils new collaborative robot at SPS 2025

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Delta Electronics, a Taiwanese industrial automation and energy technology company, will unveil its new Delta D-Bot Robotics Platform at SPS 2025 in Nuremberg, offering scalable, cost-effective, and sustainable smart factory automation to global enterprises and SMEs (small to mid-sized enterprises).

Developed for seamless integration across production, logistics, and assembly, the Delta D-Bot Platform Series unites all systems under one common architecture.

By integrating Nvidia Omniverse libraries and, Nvidia Isaac Sim open-source, reference robotics simulation framework, Delta is able to help customers accelerate time-to-market, enhance productivity and quality control, and lower production costs. [Read more…] about Delta Electronics unveils new collaborative robot at SPS 2025

Foxconn and Intrinsic launch joint venture to build AI ‘factory of the future’

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Intrinsic, an Alphabet company that makes AI robotics software, and Foxconn, the world’s largest electronics manufacturer, have launched a multi-phased joint venture designed to build the intelligent, flexible and scalable “factory of the future”.

By combining the strengths of Intrinsic’s AI platform and Foxconn’s Smart Manufacturing platform, this new partnership aims to develop and deploy adaptive, intelligent robotics solutions across Foxconn facilities in the US, unlocking new levels of flexibility and productivity in manufacturing.

“In working with Intrinsic, we are able to tap their deep expertise in AI-driven robotics,” said Young Liu, chairman and CEO of Foxconn. “This synergy complements our global manufacturing leadership, enabling us to collaboratively unlock the factory of the future.” [Read more…] about Foxconn and Intrinsic launch joint venture to build AI ‘factory of the future’