Robotics & Automation News

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robot dexterity

RLWRLD unveils ‘dexterity-first’ foundation model for humanoid robots

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RLWRLD, a physical AI company developing robotics foundation models for dexterous manipulation, unveiled RLDX-1 at “Dexterity Night in SF”, introducing a model designed to help humanoid robots perform contact-rich tasks such as grasping, pouring and tool use.

The company also reported benchmark results across humanoid tabletop, kitchen manipulation and real-world coffee-pouring evaluations, and said the model runs across multiple robot embodiments including WIRobotics’ Allex humanoid, Franka Research 3 and OpenArm.

At the launch event, Amit Goel, head of robotics ecosystem and edge AI product at Nvidia, took the stage and said: “RLWRLD is one of the core partners in the physical AI ecosystem we are building at Nvidia.” [Read more…] about RLWRLD unveils ‘dexterity-first’ foundation model for humanoid robots

Generalist AI unveils GEN-1 model, claiming breakthrough in real-world robotic task performance

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Generalist AI has introduced a new robotics model, GEN-1, which the company says marks a significant step toward general-purpose artificial intelligence for physical tasks.

The model is designed as an “embodied foundation model” – a type of AI system that can perceive, reason and act in the physical world – and is trained on large-scale datasets of real-world interactions rather than narrow, task-specific programming.

According to the company, GEN-1 achieves “99 percent success rates” on certain tasks, compared with around 64 percent for its previous-generation system, while completing tasks up to three times faster. The system is also described as highly data-efficient, requiring roughly one hour of robot-specific data to adapt to new tasks. [Read more…] about Generalist AI unveils GEN-1 model, claiming breakthrough in real-world robotic task performance

Challenges in bipedal locomotion, dexterous manipulation and power efficiency

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A look at the key technical hurdles in creating truly functional humanoid robots

Humanoid robots have returned to the center of the robotics conversation. After decades as largely experimental machines confined to laboratories and research demonstrations, they are now attracting serious investment and industrial interest.

Companies such as Tesla, Figure AI, Agility Robotics, and Boston Dynamics are developing humanoid platforms intended not simply as research prototypes but as commercial products capable of working in warehouses, factories, and other industrial environments.

The appeal of humanoid robots is easy to understand. Much of the world’s infrastructure – from doorways and staircases to tools and shelving systems – has been designed for the human body. A robot with roughly human proportions could theoretically operate in those environments without requiring extensive redesign of the workplace. [Read more…] about Challenges in bipedal locomotion, dexterous manipulation and power efficiency

AgiBot World Challenge brings embodied intelligence to life at IROS 2025

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As humanoid robots dominate the headlines at this year’s International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2025), the AgiBot World Challenge directed the spotlight at embodied intelligence – testing how well robots can bridge the gap between digital simulation and real-world performance.

The official competition of IROS 2025 has attracted 431 robotics teams from 23 countries, all pushing the limits of autonomy, dexterity, and real-time perception. After three months of global online trials, the top 12 teams are now heading to Hangzhou for the offline finals.

During the finals, robots will be challenged to perform a series of complex real-world tasks – including folding a T-shirt, picking items from a moving conveyor belt, and preparing food using a microwave – all fully autonomously. [Read more…] about AgiBot World Challenge brings embodied intelligence to life at IROS 2025

Awkward question: What will be the ‘killer app’ for humanoid robots?

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Tesla’s latest humanoid demonstration – a kung fu routine performed by its Optimus robot for actor Jared Leto – was clearly designed to impress.

But, as dramatic and as thought-provoking as it was, the spectacle raised an awkward question: what will be the “killer app” for humanoid robots?

“Killer app” is a phrase to mean the defining use case that makes a technology indispensable. In every major technology shift, there’s been a defining use case – a killer app – that turned novelty into necessity. For early personal computers, it was spreadsheets – programs like VisiCalc and later Excel that justified owning a machine running DOS. [Read more…] about Awkward question: What will be the ‘killer app’ for humanoid robots?

Pioneering roboticist Rodney Brooks says humanoid robots matching human skills is ‘pure fantasy’

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Rodney Brooks, the renowned roboticist and co-founder of iRobot (maker of the Roomba), has published a lengthy critique of the current humanoid robotics wave, arguing that today’s approaches will not deliver human-level dexterity on useful timelines.

The essay, titled “Why Today’s Humanoids Won’t Learn Dexterity” was posted on his personal blog on September 26, 2025. In it, Brooks says the idea that humanoid robots will be able to do the manual things that humans do any time within decades is “pure fantasy thinking”.

Brooks frames dexterous manipulation as the core requirement for general-purpose humanoids to make economic sense. [Read more…] about Pioneering roboticist Rodney Brooks says humanoid robots matching human skills is ‘pure fantasy’

BitRobot Foundation launches $5 million competition to ‘spark robotics breakthroughs’

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Global prize program challenges researchers to create embodied AI models to outperform human experts in various ‘moonshot’ outcomes

The BitRobot Foundation, an open robotics research and development lab, has launched its $5 million BitRobot Grand Challenges Fund, a global prize competition designed to accelerate breakthroughs in robotics and embodied AI.

Inspired by DARPA’s Grand Challenge that spurred advancement in self-driving technology, the program pits autonomous robotics AIs against human experts in high-stakes physical tasks.

Each category carries up to a $1 million grand prize for the first AI model to decisively outperform human benchmarks – offering clear evidence that the technology has reached full autonomy for that task. [Read more…] about BitRobot Foundation launches $5 million competition to ‘spark robotics breakthroughs’

Google DeepMind launches new vision language action model to ‘put AI directly into local robotic devices’

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Google DeepMind has introduced an efficient, on-device robotics model designed for general-purpose dexterity and rapid task adaptation.

This new offering, known as Gemini Robotics On-Device, is an optimized version of the Gemini Robotics VLA (vision language action) model, which was initially launched in March to integrate Gemini 2.0’s multimodal reasoning into physical applications.

Gemini Robotics On-Device is specifically engineered to operate locally on robotic devices, ensuring robust performance in environments with limited or no network connectivity and providing low-latency inference crucial for sensitive applications. [Read more…] about Google DeepMind launches new vision language action model to ‘put AI directly into local robotic devices’