Google Suddenly Drops Its Bid To Build America's Drone Swarms
Google withdrew from the Pentagon’s $100 million Autonomous Vehicle Orchestrator contest after an internal ethics review, despite having advanced to the next stage. The pull‑out follows an open letter signed by hundreds of Google AI researchers urging the firm not to supply AI for defense purposes. Google’s defense AI work, which began in 2022 and included hiring military veterans in 2025, has faced employee pushback since the 2018 Project Maven protests. Competitors such as OpenAI, Palantir and xAI remain in the race.
Roomba Inventor and iRobot Co-Founder Colin Angle Introduces Familiar Machines & Magic
Colin Angle, co‑founder of iRobot, unveiled Familiar Machines & Magic (FM&M) at the WSJ Future of Everything conference, introducing “Familiars,” embodied AI systems that learn, remember, and develop personalities. The first product is a quadruped robot with 23 degrees of...
Aptiv and Comau to Co-Develop Next-Generation Solutions for Robotics, Automation
Aptiv PLC and Comau have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to co‑develop next‑generation intelligent automation solutions. The partnership will focus on advanced robotics, autonomous systems, and AI‑enabled warehouse and logistics platforms, leveraging Aptiv’s perception, compute and software portfolio with Comau’s...
Download Trend Paper: Supercharging Data Connectivity to Meet Next-Generation Automotive Expectations
TE Connectivity has published a trend paper outlining how data connectivity must evolve to support next‑generation automotive experiences. Consumers now expect personalized, autonomous, and highly connected vehicles, driving demand for more compact, high‑resolution cameras. These cameras require connectors that can...
Transforming Inventory Operations
Lapp USA, a distributor of industrial cables and accessories, deployed Corvus Robotics' Corvus One autonomous inventory drones in its 134,000‑square‑foot Brownsburg, Indiana facility. The drones perform nightly scans, turning a labor‑intensive, twice‑yearly manual count into 26 accurate inventories per year....
Woolpert and Chance Maritime in Uncrewed Hydrographic Survey First
Woolpert and Chance Maritime have launched NOAA's first fully uncrewed offshore hydrographic survey off Pensacola, Florida, using the 40‑foot MC40 and 29‑foot MC29 unmanned surface vessels equipped with Woolpert’s multibeam sonar. The mission will capture 1,391 square nautical miles of...
As US Eyes Smaller Military Footprint in Europe, New Unit Trains for Drone Warfare
The U.S. Army has created Eerie Company, a new unit stationed in Germany to train troops on drone and electronic‑warfare tactics. Acting as an opposing force at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center, the company uses FPV drones modeled on Ukrainian...
ABB Robotics Launches PickMaster Lite to Simplify & Accelerate Robotic Picking
ABB Robotics introduced PickMaster Lite, a streamlined version of its PickMaster suite aimed at simplifying high‑speed, vision‑guided robotic picking for packaging OEMs and system integrators. The software reduces engineering effort by 30% and cuts commissioning time by 25% through pre‑configured...
Rockwell, Teradyne, Tesla See Automation Demand Despite Uncertainty
U.S. automation leaders Rockwell Automation, Teradyne and Tesla reported strong demand despite macro uncertainty. Rockwell posted $2.2 billion in Q2 sales, a 12% year‑over‑year rise, with intelligent‑device margins climbing to 20.9% and software margins to 34.9%. Teradyne’s robotics division saw revenue...
Iron Insider: No Operators? No Problem. Bluelight Machine's $50K Autonomy Kit Can Boost Productivity Up to 14%
Blue Light Machines introduced a retrofit autonomy kit for existing rollers and haul trucks, priced between $40,000 and $50,000 and installable in roughly two hours with four‑minute training. The AI‑powered system claims up to a 14% boost in site‑wide production...
Supply Chain Leaders Are Being Asked to Do Two Jobs at Once
Supply chain leaders are juggling today’s cost and service pressures while preparing for an AI‑driven future, a dilemma highlighted at Gartner’s Orlando symposium. In 2025, organizations collectively spent about $24 million on AI, yet many initiatives are over budget and won’t...
AI100 Finalist Interview: AMESA
AMESA, a provider of industrial AI, argues it belongs on the AI 100 because it delivers physical AI for autonomy. Unlike typical AI that offers generic insights, AMESA uses machine teaching where experts train AI on edge cases via simulation, digital...
AI100 Finalist Interview: Humanoid
Humanoid, an AI-driven humanoid robotics startup, aims to become the top general‑purpose robot provider for industrial use within two years. The company boasts rapid hardware cycles, delivering an alpha robot in seven months and a bipedal version in five months—speeds...
WaiV Robotics Emerges From Stealth with €6.4 Million to Develop Autonomous UAV Landing Infrastructure
British startup WaiV Robotics raised €6.4 million ($7.5 million) in seed funding as it emerges from stealth to commercialise an autonomous landing and take‑off platform for VTOL drones on moving vessels. The gyro‑stabilised, AI‑driven system can recover drones up to 15 kg on...
Europe May Not Be Ready For Tesla FSD Yet. Regulators Still Want Answers
Tesla’s Full Self‑Driving (FSD) system received formal approval for public road use in the Netherlands, marking the first European endorsement of the technology. Regulators in Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway have raised safety concerns, focusing on the system’s tendency to...
Niqo Robotics Expands Reach, Targets Profitability in 2026/7: ‘Farmers Don’t Want AI Hype—They Want ROI’
Indian ag‑robotics firm Niqo Robotics is broadening its U.S. footprint beyond lettuce, adding onion, tomato, broccoli, kale, melons and turf‑grass to its RoboWeeder 2.0 platform. The upgraded robot, priced at $350,000, promises a 12‑18‑month payback by replacing manual labor on...
AI on the Shopfloor: Who Takes the Blame when a Machine Fails?
The article highlights that Indian factories deploying agentic AI lack clear accountability structures, leaving operators liable for autonomous decisions they cannot override. Executives like Infosys EVP Jasmeet Singh note missing audit trails, explainability tools, and documented authority boundaries. Recent high‑profile...
Ecotrain Unveiled in France
France’s Socofer unveiled the Ecotrain pre‑demonstrator, a 12.1‑metre autonomous lightweight battery train funded with €4.42 million (≈$4.8 million) from the France 2030 programme. Developed by Stratiforme Industries, the 9.4‑tonne vehicle can carry 32 passengers, reach 100 km/h and stop within 70 m using lidar‑guided ATO...
Physical AI Moves Into the Home Through Familiar
Former iRobot co‑founder Colin Angle has launched Familiar Machines, unveiling a robot called the Familiar that functions as an empathetic, dog‑like companion for the home. The device listens, watches, and responds to household rhythms, positioning itself as a non‑judgmental supporter...
L.A. Neighborhoods See Influx of 500 Delivery Bots
Serve Robotics has rolled out more than 500 autonomous delivery bots across 40 Los Angeles neighborhoods, expanding its footprint from just two neighborhoods in 2023. The fleet uses the company’s Gen‑3 robots equipped with Nvidia processors that deliver five‑times the computing...
Gravis Robotics Brings Physical AI to Earthmoving
Gravis Robotics unveiled Gravis Copilot at ConExpo, introducing the first commercially available, autonomy‑ready machine‑guidance platform for U.S. construction sites. The system, demonstrated on a 13‑ton Hitachi ZX135US‑7 excavator, fuses LiDAR, cameras, GNSS and hydraulic feedback with online learning to enable...
Colour Lidar Launch From Ouster
Ouster has introduced its Rev8 portfolio of OS digital LiDAR sensors, featuring the world’s first patented native colour LiDAR powered by the next‑generation L4 silicon architecture. The L4 chip delivers up to double the range and resolution of previous models,...
Peraton Wins U.S. Navy Deal to Keep MK 18 Underwater Drones Mission-Ready
Peraton secured a U.S. Navy contract initially valued at $17.4 million to provide operational support for the MK 18 family of underwater explosive‑ordnance‑disposal drones, with four one‑year options that could lift the total award to $90.7 million through May 2031. The work will be...
Robo-Road Trains at Heart of Hexagon's Plan for Mining World Domination
Swedish industrial‑technology leader Hexagon announced a strategic partnership with Australian miner Mineral Resources to develop and trial autonomous road‑train trucks. The pilot, running on Mineral Resources' Pilbara operations, will deploy up to ten driverless haul trucks equipped with Hexagon’s AI...
Partners Selected to Prototype Autonomous Logistics Aircraft
Near Earth Autonomy has been awarded a Naval Air Systems Command contract to lead the Medium Aerial Resupply Vehicle – Expeditionary Logistics (MARV‑EL) Increment 2 program, developing an autonomous logistics aircraft for the U.S. Marine Corps. The effort partners Bell Textron’s...
Einride to Develop Swedish Dual-Use Tracked AV
Einride is co‑leading a three‑year initiative with Sweden’s National Road and Transport Research Institute and about 40 partners to build an autonomous tracked all‑terrain vehicle. The platform, powered by Einride Driver software, will move standard EU pallets of food and...
Pentagon Seeks Smarter, Self-Organizing Drones as Autonomous-Warfare Budget Is Poised to Skyrocket
The Pentagon plans to increase its autonomous‑warfare budget to $54 billion for FY 2027, up from $226 million this year, aiming to field swarms of AI‑driven drones. DARPA’s new Requests for Information target self‑organizing robots that can think locally and collaborate without central...
From Research Lab to Factory Floor: Why Humanoid Robots Need an Enterprise-Grade Foundation
Humanoid robots are moving from lab demos to continuous factory deployment, but mixed‑critical workloads and long‑term reliability have stalled many programs. Intel and Red Hat are partnering to deliver an enterprise‑grade stack: Intel Core Ultra’s integrated CPU‑GPU‑NPU SoC handles real‑time control,...
Robots Move in as Waste Firms Struggle to Find Staff
Sharp Group’s Rainham recycling plant processes about 280,000 tonnes of mixed waste each year but battles a 40% annual staff turnover due to dusty, noisy conditions and a 45% higher injury rate than other sectors. To mitigate the labor shortage, the...
MicroVision Expands Lidar Portfolio After Two Acquisitions
MicroVision announced the expansion of its lidar portfolio after acquiring Luminar Technologies' Halo and Iris sensors for $33 million and Germany‑based Scantinel Photonics, which brings ultra‑long‑range FMCW technology. The company aims to cut sensor prices to about $200 and apply the...
IRobot’s Co-Founder Just Took His New Venture Out of Stealth Mode
Former iRobot CEO Colin Angle has emerged from stealth with Familiar Machines & Magic, unveiling the first “Familiars” robot—a bear‑dog hybrid designed to build lasting human relationships. The pet‑like AI robot features a touch‑sensitive coat, audio and vision sensors, and...
From Cloud to Robot: Why Network Infrastructure Is the Critical Failure Point in Modern Automation
Modern automation has moved from isolated, on‑premise machines to cloud‑linked, edge‑enabled ecosystems. As robots, drones and AI‑driven systems generate massive data streams, their performance now depends on the underlying network’s latency, reliability and bandwidth. The article argues that network infrastructure,...
Wisk Reports First Flight of Its “Second Generation 6” Aircraft
Wisk Aero announced the successful first flight of its second Generation 6 autonomous eVTOL at its Hollister, California test site. The flight demonstrated vertical takeoff, hover and chirp maneuvers, expanding Wisk’s test fleet to two active aircraft. Dual‑aircraft testing will now...
How Can AI Make Predictive Maintenance Work for Automotive Robots?
The International Federation of Robotics reported a record 575,000 robot installations in 2025, with automotive plants hosting the densest fleets. Traditional threshold‑based maintenance fails for robots because vibration signatures shift with pose, payload, and speed, producing false alarms and missed...
How Robotics Technology Has Improved Pallet Trucks
Robotics has turned traditional pallet trucks into autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs) and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) that navigate warehouses using SLAM, LiDAR and 3‑D cameras. These machines can dynamically reroute around obstacles, lift pallets with millimetre precision, and self‑charge, eliminating...
Locus Array: The AI-Powered Warehouse Robot System Transforming Fulfillment
Locus Robotics unveiled Locus Array, an AI‑driven warehouse robot system that delivers fully autonomous, end‑to‑end fulfillment workflows. The solution shifts the industry from traditional goods‑to‑person and AS/RS models to a robots‑to‑goods architecture, eliminating over 90% of manual labor while improving...
Dental City Triples Productivity with Integrated Robotics Solution
Dental City, a Wisconsin dental‑supplies distributor, expanded its long‑standing partnership with supply‑chain tech firm Infios by adding Locus Robotics autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) to its 40,000‑sq‑ft Green Bay distribution center. The integrated solution, built on Infios’ warehouse management platform, tripled...
SoftBank Robotics Debuting Autonomous Cooking Robots ‘STEAMA’ and ‘FLAMA’ in the US
SoftBank Robotics is launching its autonomous cooking robots STEAMA and FLAMA in the United States, debuting them at the National Restaurant Association Show 2026 in Chicago. STEAMA uses high‑pressure steam to prepare frozen noodle dishes in roughly 90 seconds, while...
Purdue Drone Initiatives Focus on the Future of Autonomy in the Sky
Purdue University is spearheading a multi‑disciplinary push into autonomous drones, blending AI, advanced computing and aerospace engineering. The school helped Indiana win an FAA‑designated unmanned aircraft systems test site and launched the Center on AI for Digital, Autonomous and Augmented...
GITAI Selected by U.S. Space Force for Space-Based Interceptor Program
GITAI USA Inc. has been selected by the U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command for the Space‑Based Interceptor (SBI) program. The award places GITAI among a small group developing interceptor systems for national security. GITAI will use its vertically integrated...
EVERYWHERE Communications Partners with Parsons to Enable Resilient, Beyond-Line-of-Sight Autonomous Drone Operations Under SBIR Initiative
EVERYWHERE Communications has teamed up with Parsons Corporation under a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program to create a resilient data‑transport layer for autonomous drones. The solution uses Iridium satellite connectivity to keep drones linked to command centers even in...
SAIL Tech Lets Robots Perform Human-Scale Tasks Far More Quickly
Georgia Tech researchers unveiled Speed Adaptation of Imitation Learning (SAIL), a system that lets robots execute human‑scale tasks up to 3.2× faster while maintaining accuracy. SAIL blends smooth‑motion algorithms, high‑fidelity tracking, adaptive speed control, and action‑scheduling to adjust in real...
Autonomous Bus without Safety Driver Hits Road in Norway
Norway’s public‑transport operator Vy Buss received regulatory clearance to run Karsan’s e‑ATAK electric bus without a safety driver, making it Europe’s first fully autonomous scheduled service. The Level 4 vehicle will operate on the Kolumbus network at speeds up to 40 km/h, navigating...
Physical AI Raises Governance Questions for Autonomous Systems
Physical AI, the convergence of autonomous AI with robots, sensors, and industrial equipment, is prompting new governance challenges as models move from code to real‑world actions. The International Federation of Robotics reports 542,000 industrial robots installed in 2024, with demand...
Hexagon and Fill Pilot Humanoid for Factory Automation
Hexagon Robotics and Fill Maschinenbau have teamed up to pilot Hexagon’s AEON humanoid at a Fill client facility in Gurten, Austria. The three‑month trial will embed the robot in real‑world workflows, handling machine tending, inspection and data‑capture tasks alongside existing...
For First Responders, Faster Adoption of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Means Stronger Physical Security
The Science and Technology Directorate’s National Urban Security Technology Laboratory (NUSTL) is seeing a surge in demand for small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) among first‑responder agencies. To meet this need, NUSTL released a comprehensive "Small Unmanned Aircraft System Program Documentation...
U.S. Army Awards Contract for Autonomous Resupply Drone
The U.S. Army has awarded SURVICE Engineering a production contract for the Joint Autonomous Aerial Resupply System (JTAARS), an autonomous cargo‑delivery drone built on the Tactical Resupply Vehicle platform with UK partner Malloy Aeronautics. The contract was secured through the...
New Feasibility Study Launches to Explore the Future of Driverless Autonomous Freight in Teesside
Cenex and the International Centre for Digital Trade and Innovation have entered the UK Government’s CAM Pathfinder Feasibility Studies 2 competition with Project TACTIC, a six‑month study to build an investment‑ready business case for driverless freight between Teesport and Teesside...
Primoco UAV Reports Strongest Q1 in Its History: Robust Performance, New Contracts and Infrastructure Expansion
Primoco UAV posted its strongest first‑quarter ever, generating roughly $4.5 million in revenue and $2.7 million EBITDA. The company now holds a $38 million backlog of 30 aircraft, including a rapid one‑month delivery to Spain’s Guardia Civil. It is expanding infrastructure with a new...
CARA 2.0 – “I Built a Better Robot Dog”
CARA 2.0 is a revamped quadrupedal robot that targets hobbyists and researchers with a sub‑$1,500 price tag, roughly half the cost of its predecessor. By redesigning the actuator stack, rewinding low‑cost TYI motors, and using inexpensive XDrive controllers, the team cut...