Today's Autonomy Pulse
Volkswagen to Deploy Full-Domain AI Agents in New Models by H2 2026
Volkswagen announced that its Agentic AI for All roadmap will see full deployment in vehicles built on the CEA architecture starting in the second half of 2026. The locally trained large-language-model system moves beyond passive assistants to proactively manage parking, route adjustments and cabin preferences while keeping all data inside the vehicle.
Uber Flags Autonomous Vehicles as Core Growth Engine for 2026
Uber announced that autonomous vehicle technology will be its primary growth engine in 2026, though the company disclosed no specific investment amounts or timelines. The move underscores Uber's intent to diversify beyond ride‑hailing and food delivery as the autonomous market matures.
US Navy Picks Robot Sub “Mothership” To Unleash Underwater Drone Swarms
The U.S. Navy has chosen Anduril Industries’ Dive‑XL autonomous submarine for its Combat Autonomous Maritime Platform (CAMP) initiative. The 27‑foot, free‑flooding design serves as a “mothership” that can launch smaller AUVs such as Copperhead and Seabed Sentry. Its modular payload...
Kazakhstan’s Alatau New City “Preparing for Joby and AutoFlight Air Taxi Services”
Kazakhstan’s Alatau new city is building a low‑altitude economy and will become the first location outside China to test long‑range electric air taxis above 120 metres. Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev announced signed agreements with U.S.‑based Joby Aero and China’s...
Camera‑only Vision Outperforms LiDAR in Night Driving
This is how a CEO loses credibility with me. Cofounder of @NuroAi_Official A is making an AI that can drive vehicles, was winning me over through demonstrations of his more flexible AI than Tesla has demonstrated. Drove in left-hand Japan with...
Chris Anderson Predicted Drone Boom; Others Still Catching Up
Chris Anderson Saw the Drone World Coming. The Rest of Us Are Just Catching Up. @chr1sa https://t.co/Umjrp5sfsF
RSI Europe – FPV Drone Operator
RSI Europe, a fast‑growing Lithuanian defense tech firm, announced a vacancy for a Product Operator focused on its FPV drone systems. The role combines client training, after‑sales support, and direct feedback to product engineers, requiring extensive drone expertise and multilingual...
Self‑Driving Cars Lead Physical AI’s First Mass Adoption
Buckle up. The first wave of physical AI mass adoption will be self-driving cars. The evidence: Tesla’s FSD is making major gains, and Waymo is going from 6 cities at the end of 2025 to likely 25 by the end...
Kodiak AI Sets 2026 Target for Fully Driverless Long‑Haul Freight Fleet
Kodiak AI announced it will begin a fully driverless long‑haul freight service by the end of 2026. CEO Don Burnette said the rollout hinges on solving operational questions such as truck ownership, uptime and revenue, not just safety milestones.
Stanford Robot Handles Fragile Items Using Minimalist Control
Stanford’s Minimalist Control Lets #Robots Handle Fragile Objects Without Sensors by @lukas_m_ziegler #Robotics #Engineering #Innovation #Technology https://t.co/L4Jb9a6A9a
Delivery Drones Cleared for Flight over Populated Cities in Brazil
Brazil’s civil aviation authority (ANAC) approved a national framework allowing beyond‑visual‑line‑of‑sight (BVLOS) delivery drones to operate over densely populated areas. The rule lets Speedbird Aero’s DLV‑2 A25 fly over zones with up to 5,000 people per square kilometre and the...
Autonomous Robot Set to Replace Dangerous High‑Rise Cleaning
This #Autonomous #Robot Could End Deadly High-Rise Cleaning Jobs by @lukas_m_ziegler #Robotics #Engineering #Innovation #Technology https://t.co/JMsIcsHl3g
Out‑of‑Control Robot Destroys San Jose Restaurant
The rise of the machines begins? Out of control #Robot begins to trash restaurant in San Jose California. (SUN) #Robotics https://t.co/OBlEGgTGax
EPropelled Unveils Expansion at Global Innovation Centre in Coventry
ePropelled inaugurated its Global Innovation Centre in Coventry on March 20, marking a major expansion aimed at scaling production to over one million electric and hybrid propulsion systems annually by 2027. The facility consolidates propulsion design, software development, and testing,...
Former Uber Self-Driving Chief: Tesla FSD Crashed with My Kids Inside
Raffi Krikorian, who led Uber’s self‑driving division and maintained a two‑year injury‑free record, reported that Tesla’s Full Self‑Driving (FSD) system caused a crash in his Model X while his children were in the back seat. The incident, detailed in an Atlantic...
AUSA 2026 Unveils Overland AI ULTRA, Oshkosh L‑MAV, Kraus Hamdani K1000ULE
Overland AI, Oshkosh Defense and Kraus Hamdani Aerospace used the 2026 AUSA Global Force Symposium to debut three autonomous combat platforms – the ULTRA tactical vehicle, the L‑MAV multi‑mission carrier and the K1000ULE long‑endurance UAV. The showcases underline the Army’s...
Human Teleoperators Still Essential for Autonomous Cars, Drone Research Shows
Many self-driving cars still have human teleoperators to prevent catastrophe. Humans operating tech remotely isn’t new; drone research from the 1990s can provide guidance on supervisory control. https://spectrum.ieee.org/military-drones-self-driving-cars
Is NVIDIA Full Stack or Full Hype in Uber’s Robotaxi Narrative?
Nvidia clarified at GTC that it will not build self‑driving cars but will supply the compute, simulation and operating system needed for a full‑stack autonomous vehicle solution. Uber announced a $1.25 billion partnership with Rivian, front‑loading $300 million and tying the rest...
Turkish Firm Develops New-Gen Kamikaze Drone Boat
Turkey’s state‑owned defense firm MKE unveiled the PİRANA kamikaze unmanned surface vessel, a low‑cost, high‑speed USV designed for naval strike missions. The craft can travel over 40 knots, carry a 100‑kilogram warhead and operate up to 200 nautical miles, either solo or...
Eclipse Expands Atoms Platform Into Autonomous Robotics for Manufacturing, Logistics and Mining
Eclipse, the venture firm backed by former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, announced that its Atoms platform will now support autonomous robotics across manufacturing, logistics and mining. The move reflects a broader trend of AI making capital‑intensive physical industries more programmable...
Airbus Is Fitting AI War Drones for the German Air Force with First Flight Due in 2026
Airbus is integrating its European MARS mission system, featuring the MindShare AI, into two Kratos Valkyrie combat drones for the German Air Force. The first flight is targeted for late 2026, with full operational capability expected by 2029. The Valkyrie...
Mobilidata
Mobilidata, a Belgian mobility‑data specialist, launched a new online platform that delivers real‑time traffic and transport analytics to city authorities and transport operators. The site showcases services such as data aggregation, API access, and predictive modeling for traffic management. This...
Watch Our Cambridge Forum Webinar on Robotaxis in Cities
The Cambridge Forum hosted a webinar on robotaxis, featuring Arthur Kay and moderator Stephen Guerriero. The discussion targeted urban planners and policy makers, exploring how autonomous vehicles operate, machine‑learning safety challenges, and cybersecurity risks. Speakers examined “safe enough” thresholds, profit‑driven...
Overland AI to Showcase Autonomy Solutions at AUSA
Overland AI will unveil its ULTRA fully autonomous tactical vehicle at the AUSA Global Force exhibition in Huntsville next week. The company ties ULTRA directly to the Army’s Transformation in Contact initiative, which emphasizes early field testing with soldiers. By...
Pentagon Deploys AI‑Powered Autonomous Weapons as Anthropic Ends DoD Deal
The Pentagon announced the fielding of AI‑driven autonomous weapon systems in the ongoing Iran conflict, while AI startup Anthropic terminated its contract with the Department of Defense over ethical concerns. The twin moves expose a growing clash between rapid military...
Kraus Hamdani Reveals K1000ULE Updates at AUSA
Kraus Hamdani Aerospace announced it will unveil updates to its K1000ULE ultra‑long‑endurance unmanned aerial system at the 2026 AUSA Global Force Symposium. The platform is marketed as a dual‑role system delivering persistent intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR) and resilient communications for...
Designing Operations for Robots Drives Million‑Robot Growth
In 2012, Amazon acquired Kiva. One year later, it had around 1,000 robots. Today, that number exceeds 1 million. This kind of growth didn’t happen by simply adding more machines. Amazon reorganized its warehouses around automation. Robots handle movement, positioning, and flow of goods,...
Bluebottle USV to Feature in Australian Navy’s Fleet Review for the First Time
Australia’s Royal Australian Navy will feature the Ocius Bluebottle uncrewed surface vessel in the Exercise Kakadu Fleet Review on 21 March 2026, marking the first time a USV is displayed alongside crewed ships in a formal navy review. The inclusion follows a $176 million...
From Golden Gate Hike to Waymo's Autonomous Ride
I hailed a Waymo self-driving car for a ride back to my hotel from the Golden Gate Bridge after a 14 mile hike left me footsore. It’s awe-inspiring to live in the future-present, riding inside of a robotic car that...
AI Robot Cleaner Maps Every City Corner
Meet the Street-Smart Cleaner: Cowa’s #AI #Robot Navigates Every Corner of the City by @Robo_Tuo #Robotics #Engineering #ArtificialIntelligence #Innovation #Technology https://t.co/4rLSWPjlpO
Unidentified Lexus Spotted in San Francisco
An unidentified gray Lexus SUV equipped with a roof‑mounted lidar unit was photographed traveling northbound on Highway 101 in San Francisco on March 19, 2026 at 5:24 pm PDT. The vehicle’s sensor suite suggests it is part of an autonomous‑driving test program, though the operating...
Optimus+PV: First Self‑Replicating Von Neumann Space Probe
Optimus+PV will be the first Von Neumann probe, a machine fully capable of replicating itself using raw materials found in space
Swarm Drones Use Simple Neural Nets to Track Warm Targets
“optically-coordinated swarming drones with simple neural nets, that simply target anything warm and moving.” - are you paying attention yet?
Unidentified British Test Vehicles Spotted in Paris
A Jaguar and a Range Rover with lidar, cameras and other sensors were photographed driving around Paris’s 10th arrondissement. Both vehicles displayed British licence plates and stickers in English and German, some referencing NVIDIA. The sightings, reported over two weeks,...
Physical AI Takes Center Stage at NVIDIA GTC
From humanoids interacting with attendees to DJ arms spinning tracks and quadrupeds navigating the venue, the physical AI era was on full display. #NVIDIAGTC #AI @nvidia @nvidianewsroom https://t.co/UJl5JB1woX
This Fresh-From-CES Roborock Is Serving Life on Easy Mode—And Now I’m Spoiled Beyond Belief
Roborock unveiled its Qrevo Curv 2 Flow at CES, a premium robot vacuum‑mop priced at $999. The unit combines 20,000 Pa suction, a 167 °F self‑heating mop, and a multifunctional dock that empties, refills and dries automatically. Advanced AI obstacle recognition, LiDAR mapping across...
AVs Will Reach Global Slums Faster Than Tesla
Just had a ride in the NVIDIA autonomous vehicle. I could argue that the Tesla is slightly smoother, but that is missing the point. The point I learned this week by hanging out with a bunch of different companies building autonomous...
Three Ways AI Is Learning to Understand the Physical World
Large language models struggle with physical causality, driving a surge in "world model" research and billion‑dollar funding rounds from AMI Labs and World Labs. Researchers are exploring three architectural families—JEPA’s latent, real‑time embeddings, Gaussian‑splat 3D scene generators, and end‑to‑end generative...
MISUMI, Oishii Farm Corporation Announce Strategic Partnership
MISUMI Group Inc. has signed a strategic partnership with U.S. vertical farming pioneer Oishii Farm Corporation. Through its recently acquired subsidiary Fictiv, MISUMI will provide mechanical components for Oishii’s Ametalas Farm, leveraging AI and robotics to fine‑tune temperature, humidity, lighting...
Unauthorized Drone Swarms Detected Over US Base Amid Rising Iranian Aerial Threats
U.S. defense officials confirmed that several waves of unauthorized drones flew over a strategic Air Force installation, a development they link to Iran's expanding drone campaign in the Persian Gulf. The sightings come as Tehran's Revolutionary Guard intensifies aerial pressure...
My Waymo Ride From The Airport Was Great. Getting To It, Not So Much
Waymo’s autonomous ride‑hailing service at San Francisco International Airport delivered a smooth, safe journey for a passenger, but the pickup point was situated a considerable distance from the terminal gates. The inconvenience was exacerbated when the AirTrain station was closed, forcing...
C&C Marine Expands 24 Acres, Builds Automated Spool Shop
C&C Marine & Repair announced a 24‑acre expansion of its Belle Chasse facility and the construction of a fully automated spool shop, touted as the most advanced in the United States. The shop will house CNC bending, plasma cutting, blasting,...
EV Notes: Uber Commits to Rivian Robotaxi Investments
Uber Technologies has pledged up to $1.25 billion to Rivian Automotive for a fleet of 10,000 autonomous R2 robotaxis, with an initial $300 million equity purchase contingent on regulatory clearance. The rollout targets San Francisco and Miami in 2028 and could expand to...
Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM)
Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) lets robots create and navigate maps without GPS by fusing LiDAR, cameras, IMUs and wheel encoders. Modern SLAM favors graph‑based optimization, which scales better than early EKF approaches and supports real‑time pose estimation. Loop‑closure detection...
US Army Signals End of Traditional Combat with Drone Shift
The U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division conducted a live‑fire drill at Fort Campbell showcasing drones as the initial combat element rather than mere support tools. Multiple UAV platforms, from the MQ‑1C Gray Eagle to small reconnaissance drones, operated alongside Special...
Building Tomorrow: How Bedrock Robotics Is Changing the Construction Industry
In episode 236 of the Robot Report, host Mike Waitzman and associate editor Brianna Westling recap the massive NVIDIA GTC 2026 event, highlighting the surge of "physical AI" and practical robot demos—from humanoid greeters like IntBot to tactile five‑fingered hands...
Netherlands Approval Paves EU-Wide Tesla FSD by 2026
Tesla self driving approved in Netherlands on April 10th After that every EU country can essentially "copy" the approval and instantly approve it in their country too So by end of 2026 it's likely we'll have Tesla Full Self Driving in most...
Measuring AI Factories' Value Essential for Agentic Enterprise
As we transition to the agentic enterprise. Stil work to be done to fully model the value of intelligence manufacturing plants (AI Factories). https://t.co/HbYZCQFhhC
The University of Texas at El Paso Is Gearing up to Build Drone Tech
The University of Texas at El Paso’s Aerospace Center secured a $2 million congressional grant to expand its unmanned‑air‑system (UAS) capabilities. The funding will upgrade the Tornillo and Fabens test sites with enhanced power, computing, networking, radar, and beyond‑visual‑line‑of‑sight (BVLOS) operations....
AI Agents Set to Spark ChatGPT‑Era Robotics Revolution
Nvidia Robotics Chief: AI Agents Will Bring About ChatGPT Moment for Robotics In fact, a single agent could be responsible for coordinating a whole fleet of robots, dividing up a goal into specific tasks and assigning them to individual robots... https://t.co/hCz4HTp1t1
U.S. Army Awards XTech Win to ABRIS DG Unmanned Support Vehicle
ABRIS DG’s UNEX unmanned ground vehicle was chosen as one of five winners in the U.S. Army’s XTech Edge Strike Ground Competition in Vilseck, Germany. The victory secures a ten‑year contract on the Global Tactical Edge Acquisition Directorate marketplace through...