Robotics & Automation News

Where Innovation Meets Imagination

robotics regulation

Physical AI’s looming data rights battle: Interview with Kate Shen of Anaxi Labs

by

As artificial intelligence continues its rapid expansion into the physical world, much of the industry’s attention has focused on increasingly capable robots, larger AI models, and the vast datasets required to train them.

But a growing number of observers are asking a different question: who owns the data that makes physical AI possible, and who should benefit from it?

Kate Shen, co-founder of Anaxi Labs, is among those pushing the debate into the spotlight. Her company is developing infrastructure for what it describes as a global AI and robotics data supply chain, with a particular emphasis on worker consent, data ownership, compensation, and regulatory compliance. [Read more…] about Physical AI’s looming data rights battle: Interview with Kate Shen of Anaxi Labs

China to assign digital ID numbers to humanoid robots for lifecycle tracking

by

China is introducing a national digital identification system for humanoid robots as authorities seek to monitor safety risks and standardize management across the rapidly growing sector.

According to state broadcaster CCTV, the initiative will assign unique digital identity numbers to humanoid robots throughout their operational lifecycle, from manufacturing and deployment to recycling and disposal.

The system is intended to help regulators track products more effectively as China accelerates development of humanoid robotics for industrial, commercial, and domestic applications. [Read more…] about China to assign digital ID numbers to humanoid robots for lifecycle tracking

New US robot safety rules focus on how robots are actually used on the factory floor

by

A long-awaited update to US robot safety guidance is now complete, with the release of a new section that shifts attention from robot design to how industrial robots are used day to day.

The Association for Advancing Automation (A3) has announced the availability of Part 3 of the ANSI/A3 R15.06-2025 robot safety standard, rounding out a three-part framework that defines safety requirements for industrial robots and robot systems in the United States.

The newly released section focuses specifically on the use of industrial robot cells – an area that has historically received less formal guidance than robot design or system integration. [Read more…] about New US robot safety rules focus on how robots are actually used on the factory floor

Former Figure AI engineer claims company’s humanoid robots ‘powerful enough to fracture human skull’

by

A former safety engineer at Figure AI, Robert Gruendel, has filed a wrongful-termination lawsuit alleging he was dismissed after warning company leadership in September 2025 that its humanoid robots were “powerful enough to fracture a human skull”, according to a report on VnExpress. 

According to the suit filed on November 21 in a US federal court in California, internal “impact testing” on the company’s robot model F.02 generated forces reportedly more than double those required to break an adult skull.

As evidence of danger, the complaint cites an incident in which a robot allegedly malfunctioned and left a three-quarter-inch deep gash in a stainless-steel refrigerator door, according to reporting by Futurism. [Read more…] about Former Figure AI engineer claims company’s humanoid robots ‘powerful enough to fracture human skull’

Robot ethics: Bias, accountability, and the impact of robots becoming more intelligent and more involved in human society

by

Artificial intelligence is now embedded in robots that are not only assembling cars or moving pallets, but also serving food, delivering parcels, assisting the elderly, and even teaching children.

As these systems grow more autonomous, the ethical stakes become unavoidable: what happens when a robot makes a decision that has moral, social, or legal consequences?

Robots powered by advanced AI are no longer passive tools. They perceive, interpret, and act in ways that increasingly resemble human decision-making. That raises pressing concerns about bias, accountability, and the broader societal impact of machines that operate with growing independence. [Read more…] about Robot ethics: Bias, accountability, and the impact of robots becoming more intelligent and more involved in human society