Humanoid

Thanks to researchers at Georgia Tech, humanoid robots have taken new steps towards replacing human labor – and not simply for dangerous tasks such as mining the depths of the Earth, or difficult tasks such as high-speed mass-assembly of cars.

The next time you fly through Tokyo's Haneda Airport, your luggage might be taken care of by the dexterous hands of a humanoid robot. It's part of a pilot program to address a shortage of ground support staff in Japan.

A field of robots competing in a half marathon demonstrated how frighteningly fast the technology has developed in 12 months. Even if one bot had a race to forget, smashing into pieces at the starting line, Honor's Lightning instead smashed records.

This ain't teleoperation. Chinese researchers have tested a new, much quicker and easier method of teaching robots to play tennis, and the results look like a breakthrough in machine learning and real-world AI.

Texas Instruments has teamed up with NVIDIA to link technologies designed to "accelerate the path from simulation to the safe deployment of humanoid robots in the real world." The partnership fuses real-world sensing tech with massive computing power.

BMW is expanding its investigation of humanoid robotic workers at its factories. The automaker has just announced that it will trial a set of physical AI bots made by Hexagon for the first time at one of its European plants.

Shanghai robotics startup DroidUp has launched what it calls "a beautifully designed and expressive bionic robot" that is touted as "the world's first highly bionic robot that deeply integrates human aesthetics and advanced humanoid movement."

Boston Dynamics has unveiled the new Atlas, a humanoid designed as a practical industrial tool for warehouses and factories. Atlas can operate 24/7 in extreme temperatures, and uses AI to adapt to its environment. Production has already started.

LG has debuted a home robot that's designed to cook, clean, and manage chores using advanced Physical AI. Part of LG's "Zero Labor Home" vision, the wheeled humanoid features dexterous hands and visual learning to automate daily household tasks.

EngineAI's T800 humanoid robot, backed by 1-billion yuan in funding, boasts acrobatic combat skills, human-like agility, modular batteries, and advanced AI. Mass production begins in 2026, aiming to revolutionize industrial applications worldwide.

Hangzhou is the latest city in China to take traffic control to a new level, rolling out its AI-powered robot police officer to direct vehicles and pedestrians at major intersections and issue polite warnings to law-breakers.

When the Iron humanoid was unveiled to the public, strutting fluidly down the runway before a gobsmacked crowd, it made headlines – but not for the reasons its creators hoped. The robot moved so humanlike that people were sure there was someone inside it.