Dual-use drone startup Tekever has raised €70 million ($74 million) to develop its product and expand into new markets, specifically the U.S. The news is part of a trend of smaller tech-driven startups moving into markets normally dominated by large defense primes.It also shows that uncrewed aerial
Boston Dynamics’ new humanoid has been quietly improving by leaps and bounds behind the scenes. Announced in April, we caught some brief insight into the electric Atlas’ strength in August through a video of the robot doing pushups. The latest video, released Wednesday, showcases the robot doing wor
“We’re fundamentally a software company,” Locus CEO Rick Faulk says with a laugh. We look like a robot company, but we’re actually a software company.”It’s a familiar refrain from companies whose most public-facing products are hardware. That’s certainly the case with Locus, which produces the best-
Finding product-market fit isn’t a milestone — it’s a messy, make-or-break journey. And at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, a founder who’s been through the fire and two investors who’ve helped startups hit escape velocity will break down how to do it right.On the Builders Stage, Rajat Bhageria (Founder & C
The chipmaking giant Nvidia is leaning more heavily into robotics in 2025. More specifically, in the first half of the new year, confirms the Financial Times, Nvidia is launching a new generation of compact computers for humanoid robots called Jetson Thor.The move, which was expected, is part of an
Elon Musk has denied a report that one of his companies, Tesla, has discussed sharing revenue with another of his companies, xAI, so that it can use the startups AI models.The Wall Street Journal wrote that under a proposed agreement described to investors, Tesla would use xAI models in its driver-a
When I attended Automate in Chicago a few weeks back, multiple people thanked me for TechCrunch’s semi-regular robotics job report. It’s always edifying to get that feedback in person.While it’s true that the industry has seen ups and downs in terms of both funding and hiring in recent years, there’
MRIs are an indispensable tool for surgeons, though the technology certainly has its limitations. Take, for instance, surgeons using the machines to guide their procedures. The current process entails putting the patient into a machine to get an image, before pulling them out to advance a needle one
Aside from iRobot’s ongoing financial crisis, the world of robot vacuums is still humming along. At CES 2025 on Sunday, Roborock announced the Saros Z70. The Roomba competitor showcases what the company believes will be the next big step in robovac evolution: an arm.The idea of mounting a manipulato
Much has been (and will continue to be) written about automation’s impact on the jobs market. In the short-term, many employers have complained of an inability to fill roles and retain workers, further accelerating robotic adoption. The long-term impact these sorts of sweeping changes will have on t
AI is heating up, and we’re diving in! TechCrunch Sessions: AI is officially open for registration. Secure your spot now and save up to $300 on select tickets before prices go up.From startup founders to AI investors to aspiring innovators — TC Sessions: AI is where the entire AI ecosystem comes tog
As Tesla gears up to launch a robotaxi service in the coming years, the automaker looks like its building out a teleoperations team. According to a recent job listing, Tesla is hiring a software engineer to help develop a teleoperations system that will allow human operators to remotely access and c
Over the course of Alphabet X’s existence, the self-proclaimed “moonshot factory” has been notable for the variety in both its technological solutions and the problems its attempting to solve. The combination research facility/accelerator has produced balloons for rural internet and energy-producing
Monday’s Toyota CES press conference was all about Woven City, the carmaker’s planned community at the base of Mount Fuji. Robotics will undoubtedly play a major role in the company’s bid to automate as much of the 2,000-person city as possible, including autonomous cars and drones designed to chape
General Motors is turning to Nvidia to help bring AI to the physical world in an expanded collaboration designed to touch every aspect of the automaker’s business, including factories, robots, and self-driving cars.Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang, who announced the partnership Tuesday during his
Drop by any given loading dock and a buzz of forklifts — loaded up with goods — can be spotted maneuvering in and out of truck trailers. This logistical dance can take up to an hour to fill a trailer, leaving truck drivers in idle limbo. The founders of Atlanta-based Slip Robotics say theyve develop
Brett Adcock, co-founder and CEO of the humanoid robotics startup Figure AI, made a rare public appearance at the Bloomberg Tech conference on Thursday. Figure has recently been the subject of a couple news articles that questioned its progress with marquee customer BMW. Figure objected so strenuous
Five years ago, Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda went to CES to share with the world his personal field of dreams — a plan to build a prototype city on a 175-acre site at the foot of Mount Fuji in Japan, where people would live and work amongst all of Toyota’s projects, including autonomous vehicle techn
Google DeepMind, Googles AI research lab, on Wednesday announced new AI models called Gemini Robotics designed to enable real-world machines to interact with objects, navigate environments, and more.DeepMind published a series of demo videos showing robots equipped with Gemini Robotics folding paper
Best known for its Qooba cat pillow, Yukai Engineering has made a name for itself with some of the strangest little robots around. Who could forget, for example, Amagami Ham Ham, whose sole purpose is to gnaw on fingers, offering a “somewhat pleasing sensation.” At CES 2025, Yukai unveiled its lates
Robotics have been a foundational element of Nvidia’s stratospheric growth in recent years. When the chip maker announced GR00T in March of last year, it was heralded as a watershed moment from humanoid robotics. Most of the category’s biggest names were available from launch, including 1X Technolog
The clock is ticking for one of our Super Early Bird sales! You have just 5 days left to lock in your 2 for 1 Passes at the lowest rates of the year for TechCrunch Disrupt 2025. Save up to $1,400 on two of the same individual ticket type. This limited-time offer ends this Friday, January 31 at 11:59
Tesla is well behind the pace needed to meet its earlier stated goal of producing at least 5,000 Optimus humanoid robots this year, The Information reports. Nearly eight months into 2025, and the number of bots Tesla has produced is only in the hundreds, according to two sources. That means Tesla wi
A little early holiday surprise from Boston Dynamics this week, as Santa suit-wearing electric Atlas performs a backflip. The feat occurs about 13 minutes into a new video, showcasing yet another trick in the humanoid robot’s arsenal.It’s worth noting that unlike with humans a robot performing a b
The Jetsons debuted September 23, 1962. The first episode, titled “Rosey the Robot,” was an origin story of sorts for the titular character, describing how an overworked Jane hired the housekeeper. Sixty-two years after her debut, Rosey remains an important pop cultural touchstone for the unfulfille
The intersection of robotics and AI continues to attract attention from investors and Big Tech alike. The latest indicator? Dexterity, a startup specializing in industrial robots with human-like finesse, has raised $95 million at a post-money valuation of $1.65 billion, per Bloomberg.The investment,
Up to now, the humanoid robotics industry has been all promises and pilots. While important in the eventual deployment of new technology, these programs involve a small number of robots and often don’t graduate into anything more meaningful. On Thursday, however, Agility announced that it has entere
The Open Source Robotics Foundation (OSRF) this week announced the launch of the similarly named Open Source Robotics Alliance (OSRA). The new initiative is designed to maintain development for and maintenance of open source robotics projects, with a particular focus on the OSRF’s own robot operatin
CompaniesAlphabet IncFollowAmazon.com IncFollowMicrosoft CorpFollowAug 15 (Reuters) – The Data Center Coalition, which represents data center owners including Google, Amazon (AMZN.O), opens new tab and Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab, called on U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to uphold exist
One undeniable trend from this year’s Modex conference: suddenly everyone is into truck unloading. The past couple of years have gone from a few select companies to seemingly everyone in and around warehouse robotics looking to tackle the problem. Most solutions are some variation on a basic theme:
Giving robots a human-like exterior has been the standard for years — centuries even. But giving them actual, living skin that can be manipulated into horrifying, slimy expressions? Thats new.The new work, published in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science, is very much just an experiment. This
iRobot hasannouncedthe successor to longtime CEO, Colin Angle. Gary Cohen, who previous held chief executive role at Timex and Qualitor Automotive, will be heading up the company, marking a major shift from his predecessor, Angle, a cofounder of the company who held the role from 1997 until January
Its tough out there and yet, doing my semi-regular jobs post always gives me hope. Seems every time I post one of these, the number increases. At 74 companies, this is undoubtedly the largest list weve made, by a wide margin. That means more work for me in putting this post together, but if it help
Boston Dynamics Wednesday announced a partnership designed to bring improved reinforcement learning to its electric Atlas humanoid robot. The tie-up is with the Robotics & AI Institute (RAI Institute), earlier known as The Boston Dynamics AI Institute.Both organizations were founded by Marc Raibert,
Malicious hackers can take over control of vacuum and lawn mower robots made by Ecovacs to spy on their owners using the devices’ cameras and microphones, new research has found.Security researchers Dennis Giese and Braelynn Luedtke are due to speak at the Def Con hacking conference on Saturday deta
Robotics funding has broadly cooled off since its 2021-2022 peaks, but plenty of the issues exposed by the pandemic remain firmly in place. The biggest push behind venture funding in the category is an ongoing labor shortage. Analyst firm Garner forecasts that by 2028, half of large enterprise compa
FieldAI, an Irvine, California-based robotics startup, has raised $405 million across multiple previously undisclosed rounds to develop what it calls foundational embodied AI models — essentially robot brains designed to help everything from humanoids to quadrupeds to self-driving cars adapt to new
Samsung Electronics said on Tuesday that it has become the largest shareholder of South Korea-based robotics maker Rainbow Robotics, increasing its stake from 14.7% to 35% for KRW 267 billion (about $181 billion).The electronics giant, which paid KRW 86.8 billion (about $59 billion) for the 14.7% st
At CES 2025, Roborock unveiled a feature that it hopes could help its vacuums dethrone the Roomba: an arm.This is Saros Z70, the autonomous vacuum that comes equipped with a five-axis arm that unfolds from the top of the vacuum to pick up obstacles using onboard cameras and sensors.The S70 starts sh
LONDRES, 13 ago (Reuters) – La oferta mundial de petróleo aumentará más rápidamente de lo previsto este año y el próximo, a medida que los miembros de la OPEP+ sigan incrementando la producción y crezca el suministro procedente de fuera del grupo, dijo el miércoles la Agencia Internacional de la Ene
12 Ago (Reuters) – As ações europeias fecharam em alta nesta terça-feira, devido ao otimismo com a trégua tarifária entre os Estados Unidos e China e com cortes na taxa de juros pelo Federal Reserve, enquanto quedas nos papéis de tecnologia limitaram os ganhos.O índice pan-europeu STOXX 600 (.STOXX)
Nvidia on Monday unveiled a set of new world AI models, libraries, and other infrastructure for robotics developers, most notable of which is Cosmos Reason, a 7-billion-parameter reasoning vision language model for physical AI applications and robots.Also joining the existing batch of Cosmos world m
Mentee Robotics hasn’t been in stealth, exactly. The Israeli firm caught a small wave of press at the tail end of 2022, following Tesla’s initial humanoid robotics announcement. As that was the year of the startup’s founding, it didn’t have much to show off at the time. Even so, the firm caught some
CompaniesBaker Hughes CoFollowAug 15 (Reuters) – U.S. energy firms this week held the number of oil and natural gas rigs operating steady, energy services firm Baker Hughes (BKR.O), opens new tab said in its closely followed report on Friday.The oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future ou
Just 24 hours left to lock in Early Bird pricing for TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 — happening October 27–29 at Moscone West in San Francisco. Save up to $900 on your pass, or bring someone brilliant with you for 90% off their ticket. This deal ends tonight at 11:59 p.m. PT.Grab your Early Bird discount h
RIO DE JANEIRO, 15 Ago (Reuters) – O navio plataforma da Petrobras Almirante Tamandaré, o maior produtor já colocado em operação pela companhia, alcançou sua capacidade máxima de 225 mil barris por dia três meses antes da data prevista, no campo de Búzios, no pré-sal da Bacia de Santos, informou a p
Oceans may cover more than 70% of the Earth’s surface, but we have better maps of the moon than we do the seabed. There are good reasons for that: The ocean floor is obscured, and the harsh environment makes it hard to send humans down to get a closer look. But as robots improve, we may finally get
Most coverage of humanoid robotics has understandably focused on hardware design. Given the frequency with which their developers toss around the phrase “general purpose humanoids,” more attention ought to be paid to the first bit. After decades of single-purpose systems, the jump to more generalize
LONDRES, 12 ago (Reuters) – La OPEP elevó el martes su previsión de demanda mundial de petróleo para el próximo año y recortó su pronóstico de crecimiento de la oferta en Estados Unidos y otros productores fuera del grupo más amplio OPEP+, apuntando a un panorama de mercado más ajustado.La perspecti
TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 marks 20 years of driving the startup world forward — and you’ve got just two days left to join the movement and save up to $675 on your ticket.From October 27-29, Moscone West becomes the home base for over 10,000 movers and makers in the tech world. Join us in San Francisco
1X has acquired Kind Humanoid, the Norwegian robotics startup told TechCrunch on Monday. The deal marks a small but key consolidation for a humanoid robotics industry on the brink of a major moment in 2025.TechCrunch spoke with Kind Humanoid in October, when the then-three-person startup announced t
Doing inventory sucks. I feel the need to reiterate this any time I discuss the topic here. Having performed a bit of it during my years of retail work, I can personally attest to the fact that it’s a mind-numbing bore. It is, therefore, a prime candidate for automation. After all, two of the main t
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huangs keynote Tuesday at the companys GTC 2025 conference stuck with tradition and was chock-full of announcements. But the company also snuck in a little history lesson.During the automotive portion of his speech, Huang referred to AlexNet, a neural network architecture that gain
It’s hard to know where to focus when speaking to Christoph Kohstall. The contents of his packed Palo Alto garage compete for attention. To his immediate right stands a tower of electrical components, dotted with flashing lights. To his left is a workbench and the tops of machining tools.A red indus
SummaryTrump-Putin summit to discuss Ukraine ceasefire and LNG projectAlaska LNG project involves 800-mile pipeline for Asian exportsRussia's nuclear icebreaker vessels crucial for Northern Sea Route accessLONDON, Aug 15 (Reuters) – The United States has had internal discussions on using Russia
Aug 15 (Reuters) – The U.N. human rights office said on Friday an Israeli plan to build to build thousands of new homes between an Israeli settlement in the West Bank and near East Jerusalem was illegal under international law, and would put nearby Palestinians at risk of forced eviction, which it d
LG Electronics is betting on robotics as its next big growth driver. The South Korean electronics company said on Friday that it has agreed to acquire an additional 30% stake in Bear Robotics, a California-based startup it previously backed that is building AI-powered server robots for restaurants.
Metas chief AI scientist, Yann LeCun, says that a new paradigm of AI architectures will emerge in the next three to five years, going far beyond the capabilities of existing AI systems.LeCun also predicted that the coming years could be the decade of robotics, where advances in AI and robotics combi
Strawberries are the most popular berry in the U.S. for both consumers and farmers alike. Theyre also some of the most pesticide-reliant fruits and consistently top the Environmental Working Groups Dirty Dozen list of the most contaminated produce.San Luis Obispo, California-based TRIC Robotics thin
Generative AI has already shown a lot of promise in robots. Applications include natural language interactions, robot learning, no-code programming and even design. Google’s DeepMind Robotics team this week is showcasing another potential sweet spot between the two disciplines: navigation.In a paper
CompaniesCentrica PLCFollowDevon Energy CorpFollowAug 15 (Reuters) – British Gas owner Centrica (CNA.L), opens new tab said on Friday it has entered into a natural gas agreement with Devon Energy (DVN.N), opens new tab, in which the U.S.-based firm will supply an equivalent to five LNG cargoes per y
From the standpoint of any advertising executive, Kiwibot has left a lot of money on the table since its robots began making food deliveries on the UC Berkeley campus back in 2017. After all, the semi-autonomous wheeled systems tend to traverse high-traffic areas. In 2024, they can still draw a crow
One of the biggest questions looming over the drone space is how to best use the tech. Inspection has become a key driver, as the autonomous copters are deployed to dangerous or remote spaces like power plants and oil rigs. Inventory drones are a promising subset of the category that has emerged in
New numbers out of Crunchbase this week see robotics investments once again trending in a positive direction. The previous two years presented a steady drop in overall numbers, following a record 2021 driven by pandemic-fueled job loss. As we head into the second half of the year, 2024 is on track t
We all fall down sometimes. Astronauts are no exception. You need to be in peak physical condition for space travel, but bulky space suits and lower gravity levels can be a recipe for disaster, causing them to trip over themselves.The answer to this very specific issue may well be robotic limbs. The
Genesis AI, a startup that aims to build a foundational model for powering all kinds of robots, has emerged from stealth with a giant $105 million seed round co-led by Eclipse and Khosla Ventures.Founded last December by Zhou Xian (pictured above, left), who holds a PhD in robotics from Carnegie Mel
The savvy marketers at Boston Dynamics produced two major robotics news cycles last week. The larger of the two was, naturally, the electric Atlas announcement. As I write this, the sub-40 second video is steadily approaching five million views. A day prior, the company tugged at the community’s hea
Last month, Apple offered up more insight into its consumer robotics work via a research paper that argues that traits like expressive movements are key to optimizing human-robot interaction. “Like most animals,” starts the report, “humans are highly sensitive to motion and subtle changes in movemen
Robotics startup Mytra has been quietly operating behind the scenes since its May 2022 founding in a bid to rethink warehouse automation. The outfit brings a solid pedigree to the table, founded by automotive vets from EV firms, including Tesla and Rivian.Warehouse/fulfillment has been a white-hot c
Samsung said on Wednesday that its adding Googles Gemini AI to its home robot Ballie through a partnership with Google Cloud. Users will be able to ask the robot different queries to get answers from Gemini, said the companies.Samsung aims to tap into Gemini’s multimodal capabilities for its robot.
Modern warfare is dominated by many thousands of ultra-cheap, ultra-fast drones that conduct robotic suicide missions to deliver explosives to enemy territory. Private companies have scrambled to develop tech to counter these unmanned aerial systems, but these solutions often aren’t sufficient, leav
Apple is exploring both humanoid and non-humanoid robotic form factors, according to a new scoop from longtime Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The intel comes on the heels of a research paper from the iPhone maker that explores human interactions with “non-anthropomorphic” robots — specifically a Pixar-
The snake robot form factor has existed for decades. In addition to the diversity it adds to the world of automation, the design has several pragmatic attributes. The first is redundancy, which allows for the system to keep chugging even after a module is damaged. The second is a body that makes it
In the beginning of 2021, Alphabet shuttered Loon. It was a familiar story within the annals of Google X history: an ambitious moonshot with tremendous upside that sputtered out prior to gaining any sort of meaningful traction after nearly a decade.“Despite Loon’s extraordinary technical progress,”
Xocean, an Irish marine robotics startup that provides ocean data to the energy and hydrography industries using uncrewed surface vessels (USVs), has raised €115 million ($119 million) as it looks to expand coverage to additional sectors.Founded in 2017, Xocean has built a fleet of remotely-controll
You could easily walk the entire Automate floor without spotting a single humanoid. There was a grand total of three, by my count — or, rather, three units of the same nonworking prototype. Neura was showing off its long-promised 4NE-1 robot, amid more traditional form factors. There was a little ph
TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 hits Moscone West in San Francisco from October 27 to 29, bringing together 10,000+ startup and VC leaders for three days of bold ideas, groundbreaking tech, and future-shaping conversations. One of the most highly anticipated sessions happening on one of the two AI Stages wi
Waymo has opened its robotaxi service to everyone in Los Angeles, sunsetting a waitlist that had grown to 300,000 people. The Alphabet-backed company said starting Tuesday anyone can download the Waymo One app to hail a ride in its service area, which is now about 80 square miles in Los Angeles Coun
At CES 2025, German Bionic announced the Apogee Ultra, a new robotic exoskeleton it claims is the “world’s most powerful.” What did the system do to earn such a lofty title? It offers up to 80 pounds of dynamic lift assistance. That means a payload of 70 pounds feels more like nine to 11 pounds to t
CompaniesHanwha Solutions CorpFollowHD Hyundai Co LtdFollowLG Chem LtdFollowShow more companiesAug 14 (Reuters) – South Korea will announce a plan this month to restructure its ailing petrochemical sector, Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said on Thursday.Below are South Korea's top petrochemica
The story of warehouse robotics is a story of attempting to keep up with Amazon. It’s been more than a decade since the online giant revolutionized its delivery services through its Kiva Systems acquisition. As Walmart works to remain competitive, it’s taking a more piecemeal approach to automation,
SummaryCompaniesAngola bets on gas as oil dipsDaily gas production seen rising above 20% by 2030Azule Energy eyes second gas-specific wellCAPE TOWN, August 14 (Reuters) – Optimistic over Angola’s untapped gas potential, Azule Energy is considering another gas exploration well after leading the count
SummaryDemand growth forecast raised 100,000 bpd for 2026Cuts 2026 non-OPEC+ supply growth forecast by 100,000 bpdExpects U.S. shale output to drop next yearLONDON, Aug 12 (Reuters) – OPEC on Tuesday raised its global oil demand forecast for next year and trimmed its estimate for growth in supply fr
Karl Iagnemma, an early pioneer in the autonomous vehicle industry who recently stepped down as president and CEO from Hyundai-backed Motional, is back in the AV and robotics game. Vecna Robotics, a Massachusetts-based startup that uses robots to handle materials in warehouses, has hired Iagnemma as
From October 27-29, TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 will bring together over 10,000 startup pioneers, VC leaders, and tech enthusiasts at Moscone West in San Francisco — the epicenter of innovation set to reshape the future of technology.What’s in it for your startup? A golden opportunity to put your innova
LONDRES, 13 août (Reuters) – L'Agence internationale de l'énergie (AIE) a relevé mercredi ses prévisions de croissance de l'offre pétrolière pour cette année, après la décision de l'Opep+ d'accroître la production, tout en abaissant ses prévisions de demande en raison d'
There’s a long list of reasons why you don’t see a lot of non-vacuum robots in the home. At the top of the list is the problem of unstructured and semi-structured environments. No two homes are the same, from layout to lighting to surfaces to humans and pets. Even if a robot can effectively map each
SummaryUS, Russia aim to reach a deal to halt the war in UkraineLatest US tariffs raise concerns over economic activityTrump threatens further sanctions on buyers of Russian oilUS oil rig count rises by one to 411HOUSTON, Aug 8 (Reuters) – Oil held steady on Friday as markets awaited a meeting in co
Human children generally learn to tie their shoes by age 5 or 6. Robots, on the other hand, have been working on the problem for decades. In a new paper, Google DeepMind researchers showcase a method for teaching robots to perform a range of dexterous tasks, including tying a shoe, hanging a shirt,
New year, new you and what better way to celebrate than a new job? In spite of a very up and down 2024, plenty of robotics firms are still hiring.Addverb Technologies (10 roles)Advanced Construction Robotics (2 roles)Agility Robotics (20 roles)Aion Robotics (15 roles)Astrobotic (4 roles)Aurora (87
After 14 years of developing inside of semiconductor giant Intel, RealSense is striking out on its own.RealSense sells cameras that use stereoscopic imaging, a process that combines two images of the same object from different angles to create depth, enhanced with infrared light. This technology hel
CompaniesExxon Mobil CorpFollowNeftyanaya Kompaniya Rosneft' PAOFollowONGC Videsh LtdFollowMOSCOW, Aug 15 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday signed a decree that could allow foreign investors, including top U.S. oil major Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), opens new tab, to regain shares
