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Interview with Olo Robotics COO Eleanor Tang-Smith: Making robot programming accessible to everyone

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Robotics hardware has advanced rapidly in recent years. Autonomous mobile robots, quadrupeds, robotic arms, and even humanoid robots are becoming increasingly capable and commercially available. Yet for many organizations, one of the biggest barriers to adoption remains software.

Building robotic applications typically requires specialist expertise in platforms such as ROS 2 (Robot Operating System 2), the open-source framework that has become the de facto standard for modern robotics development.

While ROS 2 has helped accelerate robotics innovation across industries, it is still widely regarded as complex and difficult for newcomers to master. [Read more…] about Interview with Olo Robotics COO Eleanor Tang-Smith: Making robot programming accessible to everyone

Interview with Paul Dawalibi: Can Ras Al Khaimah become the Silicon Valley of the Middle East?

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For decades, when technology companies looked to establish a presence in the Middle East, the conversation typically revolved around Dubai or Abu Dhabi.

But as global competition for AI, robotics, and deep-tech investment intensifies, a growing number of smaller, more agile innovation hubs are seeking to carve out their own place in the technology landscape.

Among them is Innovation City Ras Al Khaimah, a technology-focused free zone located in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates. [Read more…] about Interview with Paul Dawalibi: Can Ras Al Khaimah become the Silicon Valley of the Middle East?

From audio tapes to AI: Interview with TDK Ventures investment director Ankur Saxena

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Artificial intelligence has become the dominant theme in technology investing, but when it comes to robotics, some investors argue that the industry may be drawing the wrong conclusions from recent breakthroughs in large language models and generative AI.

Among them is Ankur Saxena, investment director at TDK Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of TDK Corporation.

While TDK is widely recognized today as a supplier of electronic components, sensors, power systems, and advanced materials, many readers will remember the company as one of the world’s most recognizable brands in the era of cassette tapes and audio recording media. [Read more…] about From audio tapes to AI: Interview with TDK Ventures investment director Ankur Saxena

Massachusetts awards $2 million to six local robotics companies

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Massachusetts’ Healey-Driscoll Administration and the Innovation Institute, a division of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MassTech), has awarded nearly $2 million through the Massachusetts Robotic Digital Twin Initiative to six organizations advancing robotics innovation across the state.

The funding will help accelerate commercialization pathways for robotics hardware developers by expanding access to digital twin technologies.

Digital twins, or virtual, data-driven replicas of physical robots, allow users to test robots virtually before deployment in real-world environments, reducing costs, improving safety and accelerating innovation. [Read more…] about Massachusetts awards $2 million to six local robotics companies

Nebius and Nvidia launch Physical AI Living Lab for European robotics startups

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Nebius, the AI cloud company, has announced the Physical AI Living Lab, a six-month program that equips British and European robotics startups with Nvidia’s physical AI development tools and Nebius’s AI cloud infrastructure. 

Physical AI depends on large-scale simulation, synthetic data, and accelerated compute that most early-stage robotics companies cannot assemble on their own.

The Physical AI Living Lab removes that barrier, putting the same class of tooling and compute used to build physical AI at scale into the hands of founders, so they can move from simulation to real-world deployment faster. [Read more…] about Nebius and Nvidia launch Physical AI Living Lab for European robotics startups

Interview with Columbia professor and co-founder of SceniX Yunzhu Li: ‘Simulation is central’

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The robotics industry is enjoying a surge of investment, media attention, and ambitious promises about the future of humanoid machines.

Companies are announcing plans to manufacture thousands of robots, while advances in artificial intelligence have fueled expectations that general-purpose robots may soon become commonplace in factories, warehouses, workplaces, and even homes.

Yet beneath the excitement lies a fundamental technical challenge that many researchers believe remains far from solved. [Read more…] about Interview with Columbia professor and co-founder of SceniX Yunzhu Li: ‘Simulation is central’

Interview with Jun Wu of GMEX Robotics: ‘We provide an integrated terminal + brain closed-loop system’

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Artificial intelligence may dominate the headlines, but the future of robotics will depend on much more than software alone.

While many companies are racing to develop foundation models and increasingly capable AI systems, others argue that the real challenge lies in combining intelligence with hardware that can operate reliably in the physical world.

One company taking that approach is GMEX Robotics, a Nasdaq-listed developer of AI-enabled robotic systems for industrial, commercial, and consumer applications. [Read more…] about Interview with Jun Wu of GMEX Robotics: ‘We provide an integrated terminal + brain closed-loop system’

Open source hardware for robotics: Democratizing robot building

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Most discussions about open-source robotics focus on software. The Robot Operating System (ROS) has become the best-known example, providing developers with a common framework for building and operating robots.

Yet software is only part of the story.

Over the past two decades, a growing ecosystem of open-source hardware platforms has dramatically lowered the barriers to robotics development. [Read more…] about Open source hardware for robotics: Democratizing robot building

ISS National Lab launches Orbital Edge accelerator with up to $750,000 per startup and ISS flight access

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ISS National Laboratory has launched the 2026 Orbital Edge Accelerator, a new startup program designed to help deep-tech companies accelerate research, commercialization, and fundraising through access to the International Space Station.

The accelerator will select six startups, with each company eligible to receive up to $750,000 in venture funding alongside the opportunity to conduct ISS National Lab-sponsored in-orbit research projects.

According to the ISS National Lab, the program combines venture investment, orbital testing opportunities, mentorship, and commercialization support to help startups shorten development timelines that would otherwise take years using conventional laboratory and field testing. [Read more…] about ISS National Lab launches Orbital Edge accelerator with up to $750,000 per startup and ISS flight access

Infineon launches humanoid robotics-focused startup challenge for 2026

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Infineon’s Startup Challenge brings together promising founder teams and young high-tech companies from across the globe to work jointly on a highly relevant topic: humanoid robotics.

The Challenge is a structured innovation program designed to develop technological concepts into market-ready applications. It is part of Infineon’s global Co‑Innovation Program, in which Infineon drives innovation together with startups as a technology and development partner.

Sören Jehmlich, vice president ventures, startups and ecosystems at Infineon, says: “Semiconductors are the foundation of humanoid robotics and a key growth driver. [Read more…] about Infineon launches humanoid robotics-focused startup challenge for 2026