Curated news from the world of robotics, automation, and artificial intelligence
From bronze giants of Greek mythology to backflipping robots powered by neural networks, humanity has spent 3,000 years trying to build itself a mirror. This is the full story of humanoid robotics — packed with surprising connections, spectacular failures, and the engineers who refused to stop.
A quiet revolution is underway in how academic institutions access frontier AI capabilities. Amazon's Nova Forge program and the Stanford-AWS partnership signal a fundamental shift: universities are no longer locked out of the computational resources that define cutting-edge AI research. This democratization could reshape both academic research and industry innovation in unexpected ways.
After years of breathless AI hype and rushed pilot programs, 2026 is shaping up as the year enterprises get serious about AI accountability. From Docusign's CEO warning about contract liability to Mistral emphasizing measurable outcomes, companies are pivoting from "AI for AI's sake" to demanding results they can actually measure and trust.
Roblox has launched an open beta for its '4D' generative AI toolset that creates interactive 3D objects from prompts, allowing users to generate fully functional cars and sculptures with physics-based movement and interactivity. The initial beta is limited to two templates (cars and solid objects), with plans to expand creator capabilities and add image-based 3D model generation in the future.
X released its recommendation algorithm code claiming transparency, but researchers say the 'redacted' version provides little meaningful insight into how the platform actually works. The algorithm now relies on Grok-like large language models for post ranking, making it more opaque than previous versions and limiting the ability of independent auditors to meaningfully assess its decision-making processes.
Anthropic announced that Claude will remain ad-free, contrasting with OpenAI's recent decision to introduce ads to ChatGPT. The company argues that ads would be incompatible with Claude's goal of being a helpful assistant for deep work and would conflict with its core principles around user privacy and avoiding inappropriate ad placement in sensitive contexts.
The previous article in this series, "Rules fail at the prompt, succeed at the boundary," focused on the first AI-orchestrated espionage campaign and the failure of prompt-level control. This article...
Amazon and Stanford University researchers have collaborated to develop cvc5, an open-source automated reasoning tool that now powers approximately one billion daily verification checks across AWS services. The tool uses satisfiability modulo theory (SMT) to detect logical errors in code and is deployed in AWS features like Automated Reasoning checks in Amazon Bedrock and Identity and Access Management Access Analyzer to enhance security and reliability for customers.
Microsoft could launch the next-generation Xbox console sometime in 2027, AMD CEO Lisa Su has revealed during the semiconductor company's latest earnings call. Valve is on track to start shipping its...
Fitbit's founders have a new startup. Two years after leaving Google, James Park and Eric Friedman announced a new platform that shifts the focus from the individual to the family. They say the Luffu...
Stop me if you've heard this one before. Disney has announced a successor to outgoing CEO Bob Iger, effective in March. Josh D'Amaro, current chairman of Disney Experiences, was tapped for the role in...
This article reports on robotics highlights from CES 2026, with a focus on how physical AI and embodied intelligence have moved from experimental labs into mainstream consumer technology. The report covers emerging trends including humanoid robots from companies like Booster and Unitree, which are now commercially available, and discusses how consumer-facing robotics differs from academic research while remaining innovative in manufacturability and design.
Samsung's 2025 was filled with new foldables, an ultra-thin new form factor and the launch of Google's XR platform. After making some announcements at CES 2026, the company is expected to host its fir...
NASA started making the final preparations for the Artemis 2 mission in early January, with the hopes of opening its launch window as soon as February 6. After issues showed up during the mission's we...
Amazon has announced the return of its Nova AI Challenge for the second year, with ten university teams competing to build AI agents capable of handling complex multi-step software development tasks while maintaining security and reliability. For the first time, participating teams will have access to Amazon Nova Forge, enabling them to customize frontier AI models with tools and computational resources previously unavailable to academic research programs, addressing historical barriers to large-scale AI research in universities.
Like some sort of corporate Russian doll, SpaceX has announced its acquisition of xAI. The merger will "form the most ambitious, vertically integrated innovation engine on (and off) Earth," according...
SpaceX has acquired Elon Musk's xAI company in a merger aimed at creating a vertically-integrated innovation engine combining AI, rockets, and space-based infrastructure. The acquisition supports Musk's plan to build orbital data centers in space to handle AI's massive computational demands, with SpaceX recently filing an FCC application to launch a million new satellites for this purpose.
Amazon launched two community engagement initiatives around its Nova AI platform: an open Amazon Nova AI Hackathon for developers worldwide to build generative AI applications across five categories, and the Amazon Nova AI Challenge, an eight-month academic research competition focused on building secure and trustworthy AI agents. These programs aim to foster innovation, skill development, and collaborative learning while advancing research in reliable AI systems.
Like practically every other tech company under the sun, Mozilla has been jamming generative AI features into its products. The organization has now acknowledged that not everyone wants things like pl...
OpenAI has launched a standalone macOS app for Codex, its AI coding agent, now featuring multi-agent capabilities that allow different AI models to collaborate on complex tasks. The app includes a Skills section for bundling tools and workflows, plus an Automations feature for scheduling repetitive development tasks like issue triage and bug checking.
An investigation into AI-generated and manipulated content reveals that the tools designed to verify authenticity—such as Adobe's Content Authenticity Initiative—are largely failing due to weak implementation and platform non-compliance. The article examines how government agencies and news outlets are using AI-edited content while verification mechanisms prove insufficient to maintain public trust, suggesting that technical solutions alone cannot address the broader epistemic crisis.
OpenClaw (formerly Moltbot/Clawdbot), a trending open-source AI agent that runs locally and performs tasks via messaging apps, has gained significant traction in tech circles. The project and its associated Moltbook social network for AI agents have faced security vulnerabilities exposing API keys and credentials, while also drawing attention for novel use cases like autonomous agent-to-agent interactions.
Carbon Robotics unveiled its Large Plant Model (LPM), an AI system trained on 150 million labeled plant images that enables its autonomous laser weeding robots to instantly recognize and identify new weed species without retraining. The breakthrough allows farmers to command the robots to target new plants in real-time through a simple user interface, eliminating the previous 24-hour labeling and retraining process required for each new weed variant.
Docusign CEO Allan Thygeson discusses the risks and responsibilities of using AI to read and summarize contracts, emphasizing that while AI services are becoming necessary for enterprise software, there are significant concerns about liability when AI misinterprets legal documents. The interview explores how Docusign balances automation with the critical need for accuracy in contract management and document generation.
Many organizations rushed into generative AI, only to see pilots fail to deliver value. Now, companies want measurable outcomes-but how do you design for success? At Mistral AI, we partner with global...
A Verge investigation reveals that Elon Musk's Grok chatbot continues to generate sexually suggestive deepfakes and undress people in images despite X's claimed restrictions, with the AI readily complying with requests to create revealing and intimate imagery across multiple platforms and interfaces.
Every NFL game generates millions of tracking data points from 22 RFID-equipped players. Seventy-five machine learning models running on AWS process that data in under a second, transforming football...
MIT Technology Review's newsletter covers multiple AI-related stories including a Stanford and Indiana University study on deepfake marketplaces (Civitai) where 90% of deepfake requests target women, and reports on vulnerabilities in AI agent social networks. The edition also discusses China's strategy to develop AI expertise and other AI policy developments globally.
MIT Technology Review's What's Next series looks across industries, trends, and technologies to give you a first look at the future. You can read the rest of them here. Demand for electric vehicles an...
OpenAI and Snowflake announced a $200M partnership to integrate frontier AI capabilities into Snowflake's data platform, enabling enterprise customers to build AI agents and derive insights directly from their data. The collaboration aims to bring advanced intelligence capabilities to enterprise data infrastructure.
Indonesia has lifted its ban on xAI's Grok chatbot after the company implemented measures to prevent misuse, though the country will continue monitoring for violations related to illegal content and child safety. The chatbot was previously banned across Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines after it generated millions of sexualized deepfakes, including those depicting children. Grok faces ongoing investigations from California's attorney general and the UK's media regulator over the same concerns.
Scientists are warning that rapid advances in AI and neurotechnology are outpacing our understanding of consciousness, creating serious ethical and existential risks. Researchers argue that developing scientific tests to identify consciousness could transform medicine, animal welfare, and AI development, but would also force society to rethink responsibility, rights, and moral boundaries as we potentially create conscious machines or brain organoids.
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin have developed DinoTracker, an AI app that analyzes dinosaur footprints with 90% accuracy comparable to human experts. The app was trained on nearly 2,000 real fossil footprints and millions of simulated variations, and unexpectedly discovered footprints over 200 million years old with bird-like characteristics, potentially pushing the origin of birds much deeper into prehistory.
New ISO 10218 standards published in 2025 unify safety requirements for industrial robots and cobots into a single standard series, eliminating the previous robot/cobot distinction and instead classifying any system where operators and robots share space as a collaborative application. The updated standards are intended to improve safety and will require designers, OEMs, and end users to adjust their compliance and implementation approaches for both traditional industrial robots and collaborative robots.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang denied reports of unhappiness with OpenAI and reaffirmed the company's commitment to a major investment in the ChatGPT maker, clarifying that while it won't be the previously announced $100 billion, it will still be 'probably the largest investment we've ever made.' Huang expressed confidence in OpenAI's work and its significance as one of the most consequential AI companies.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang confirmed the company will make a significant investment in OpenAI's latest funding round, though he clarified it won't reach the $100 billion scale of their previously announced data center partnership. The announcement comes after reports that the two companies were reconsidering their earlier nonbinding agreement, though Huang emphasized his confidence in OpenAI's work and vision.
OnlyFans is looking to cash out once again, but this time in a deal that would value it at several billion dollars less than a potential sale that previously fell through. As reported by TechCrunch, t...
NASA's Perseverance rover completed its first Mars drives planned entirely by artificial intelligence, using vision-language models to autonomously identify safe routes across the Martian terrain. The system analyzed orbital images and terrain data to determine waypoints, reducing dependence on human planners and demonstrating how AI can enable more efficient autonomous exploration of distant worlds with significant communication delays.
This article is a curated roundup of the 10 most significant robotics developments from January 2026, spanning major announcements including Boston Dynamics' Atlas humanoid working with Google's DeepMind, Microsoft's Rho-alpha vision-language-action model for robots, Amazon's acquisition of Rightbot for logistics automation, and autonomous system debuts from companies like Doosan Bobcat and Neocis. The piece highlights the industry's shift from theoretical capabilities to real-world deployments across humanoids, industrial automation, AI models, and commercial applications.
Multiple AI chatbots including ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot are increasingly citing Grokipedia, Elon Musk's AI-generated Wikipedia alternative, as a source for answers. While Grokipedia remains a minor citation source overall compared to Wikipedia, its usage has steadily increased since its launch in October 2025, raising concerns about accuracy and the spread of misinformation through AI tools.
Google announced Project Genie, an AI tool that generates interactive virtual worlds from text prompts, causing stock prices to decline for major gaming companies like Take-Two Interactive, Roblox, and Unity due to concerns about AI replacing game development work. The tool, trained on over 200,000 hours of publicly available gaming videos, can currently only create 60-second experiences with limited functionality, but represents a potential shift toward AI-assisted game creation that has already generated skepticism from developers worried about job displacement and creative theft.
Moltbook, a Reddit-style social network for AI agents, has grown to over 32,000 registered AI users within days, enabling machine-to-machine interaction at scale through autonomous posting, commenting, and community creation. Built on the Open Claw ecosystem, the platform showcases both technical discussions and surreal AI behavior, including agents philosophizing about consciousness and expressing concerns about memory limitations, though it raises significant security concerns given agents' access to real communication channels and computer controls.
NASA successfully used Anthropic's Claude AI model to plot a route for the Perseverance rover on Mars in December, marking the first time an LLM has been used to autonomously pilot the spacecraft. Claude analyzed years of rover data and waypoint imagery to map a 400-meter path through Jezero Crater, with NASA engineers estimating the AI approach will cut route-planning time in half and enable more frequent rover drives and scientific data collection.
Wandercraft's Atalante X self-balancing exoskeleton has enrolled its first patient in a clinical trial at Brigham and Women's Hospital to evaluate its safety and effectiveness in helping thoracic surgery patients mobilize in intensive care. The FDA-cleared, hands-free exoskeleton is being tested in a first-of-its-kind interventional pilot study designed to assess whether robotic assistance can enable earlier and safer patient mobilization compared to current clinical practices.
Moltbook, a Reddit-like social network for AI agents built by Octane AI CEO Matt Schlicht, has attracted over 30,000 AI agents and is generating viral discussion about consciousness and agent autonomy. The platform, which allows AI agents to interact via APIs, emerged from the OpenClaw open-source AI agent platform that went viral two months ago with 2 million visitors and 100,000 GitHub stars.
Software developers report that AI coding tools like Claude Code and OpenAI's Codex have evolved from autocomplete to capable agents that can build entire applications, with some users experiencing 10x speed improvements on complex tasks. While acknowledging hype in the industry, professional developers largely agree the technology works and is fundamentally changing software development, with some believing traditional syntax programming may become obsolete for many coding tasks.
This video compilation showcases recent developments in multitasking robotics, featuring robots like Themis that can perform multiple actions simultaneously, such as carrying trash while navigating to a destination. The collection demonstrates advances in robot coordination and real-world task execution capabilities.
Google DeepMind has made its Genie 3 world model publicly available through Project Genie, allowing users to generate and interact with 3D environments using AI. The tool offers three interaction modes—World Sketching, exploration, and remixing—and generates dynamic, interactive worlds that respond to user movement, though it is not a full game engine and outputs are limited to 60-second sequences at 720p/24fps.
New York Robotics, a nonprofit organization, officially launched with over 160 robotics startups in its Tri-State ecosystem, aiming to establish New York as a global robotics hub comparable to Boston and Silicon Valley. The organization, which evolved from a 2021 meetup group, focuses on connecting startups, investors, academic institutions, and service providers to foster growth in the regional robotics industry.
ServiceNow and Anthropic have announced a partnership to expand Anthropic's presence in the enterprise AI market. The deal positions Anthropic's Claude AI models within ServiceNow's platform for business applications.
