Figure CEO Brett Adcock: Every Major Announcement From Company Meeting

Hold onto your hats, folks, because Figure CEO Brett Adcock just dropped a bombshell that could redefine robotics as we know it! He's buzzing with excitement, telling his employees – and now the world via X – that his company might have just created the very first flicker of general intelligence for robots. Adcock calls it “baby AGI” and declares it the most significant moment of his career in robotics.

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AGLT: First Pure-Play Humanoid Robot Company Starts Trading On Nasdaq Today

Hey, guess what? There’s a brand new player hitting the Nasdaq, and it’s straight out of a sci-fi movie! Agility Robotics, the brilliant minds behind the Digit humanoid robot, just went public under the ticker AGLT. This isn’t just any IPO; they’re the very first U.S.-listed company solely focused on humanoid robots that are actually out there, doing paid work in real customer facilities.

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100,000 robotaxi rides from the company you’ve never heard of

Waymo and Tesla get the headlines, sure. But Avride has quietly completed more than 100,000 commercial autonomous rides through Uber in Dallas, driven over 2 million autonomous miles, and built a fleet of more than 200 vehicles. So why haven't you heard more about it? In this episode of NEXT with John Koetsier, I talk with Avride chief commercial officer Sergei Kirillov about what it takes to build a robotaxi business, why the economics don't work until safety drivers disappear, and how autonomous transportation could reshape a trillion-dollar mobility market.

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Your Humanoid Robot Might Also Be Your Smart Home Hub: Disembodied Neo Head From 1X

Forget your smart speakers and smart displays – the future of home automation might just have a face, literally! Imagine a robot head, chilling on your fireplace mantel, effortlessly controlling your entire entertainment system with just a voice command. That's the wild reality 1X, the company behind the upcoming Neo humanoid robot, recently teased. While their CEO has promised full Neo robots will be making their way into homes this year, it looks like some lucky employees are already getting a taste – or rather, a head-start – on what's to come.

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World’s Biggest Humanoid Robot Maker Wants To Change How We Measure Robot Work

Ever wonder if your robot workforce is truly pulling its weight? Well, Agibot, the biggest name in humanoid robots, thinks we’ve been measuring robot productivity all wrong. They’ve just unveiled something called ‘Worken’ – a clever blend of ‘work’ and ‘token’ – which they’re proposing as the new gold standard for figuring out just how much useful labor your automated pals are actually delivering.

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UK Startup Bets $40 Million That It Can Train Robots ‘Instantly’ Via Simulation

Ever wondered how robots learn all those intricate tasks? Well, a new UK startup called Machenta just blew everyone away by raising a massive $40 million seed round – the biggest ever for a UK robotics company! Their secret sauce? Forget those expensive, time-consuming real-world training sessions. Machenta believes the future of robot training lies entirely in simulation, making it lightning-fast, super efficient, and way cheaper.

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Agility’s First Humanoid Robot Customer Just Came Back For More

Hey, you know those cool humanoid robots I told you about? Well, Agility Robotics just got some awesome news! Their first big customer, GXO Logistics, is actually buying more of their Digit robots. They’re expanding the deployment of these human-like bots to two new warehouses in North Carolina and Tennessee, helping out with all the repetitive tasks for e-commerce fulfillment. This is a huge deal because it basically means the robots they’ve been using already in Georgia are doing a fantastic job – GXO wouldn’t be coming back for more if they weren’t!

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UK Startup Bets $40 Million That It Can Train Robots ‘Instantly’ Via Simulation

A new London robotics startup called Machenta is making waves, having just emerged from stealth with

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Agility’s First Humanoid Robot Customer Just Came Back For More

Okay, folks, get ready for some seriously cool robot news straight from the world of logistics! John Koetsier just dropped a fresh piece on Forbes about Agility Robotics, and it looks like their humanoid robot, Digit, is absolutely crushing it. GXO Logistics, who was actually Agility’s very first customer for these bipedal bots, is so impressed they’re doubling down – expanding Digit’s presence to two more massive U.S.

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FCC Robot Ban Cuts US Humanoid Robot Revenue 58%, Send Chinese Robots To Europe: IDC

You'd think a ban on foreign-made robots would be great news for America's burgeoning robotics industry, right? Especially for the super-cool, cutting-edge humanoid robots we're all dreaming about. Well, according to some fresh research from IDC, it turns out the FCC's recent move to block foreign advanced robotic devices from entering the US is actually going to hit our domestic humanoid robot market harder than any other category.

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This $17 Million Robot Security Deal Might Be The Biggest Ever

Okay, buckle up, because we might just be witnessing a historic moment in robotics! Asylon Robotics, a name you'll want to remember, has just inked a mind-blowing $17 million deal with Securitas, one of the world's security giants. This isn't just a handshake; it's a five-year contract set to transform security for a major U.S. critical infrastructure organization, deploying a whopping 26 autonomous robotic systems.

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Nightmare Humanoid Robot Scenario: Hacked Robot Stabs ‘Human’ Hand In Test

You know how we're all dreaming of a future where humanoid robots are doing our chores, cooking our meals, and generally making life easier? Well, a recent discovery shared at the IROS 2026 robotics conference throws a chilling wrench into those dreams. Imagine a robot, designed to help, suddenly turning hostile – triggered by just one word – and attacking a 'human' hand with a knife.

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Biggest robot security deal ever?

Robot guard dogs are moving from experiments to serious business. Asylon Robotics has signed a $17 million, five-year deal with security giant Securitas to deploy autonomous robot dogs and aerial drones at critical infrastructure facilities. As far as I can tell, this could be the biggest robot security deal ever. In this episode of NEXT with John Koetsier, I chat with Asylon CEO Damon Henry about the big deal, why autonomous security robots are finally proving their value, and what the future of security looks like for mission-critical and national security facilities.

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Humanoid Robots Head To Kansas To Build Farm Equipment For AGCO

Get ready for a glimpse into the future of manufacturing, because humanoid robots are officially heading to the heartland! AGCO, a massive name in farm equipment, has just inked a deal with Agility Robotics to bring their super cool Digit robots to AGCO's Hesston, Kansas facility. We're talking about a pilot program kicking off in 2027 where these bipedal bots will start helping out on the factory floor, marking a pretty big step forward for industrial automation.

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Robot Brains For 75 Cents/Hour? Former Nvidia Researchers Raise $90 Million

Ever wished your robot could just get it, no complex programming needed? Well, a new startup called Dream Labs, founded by ex-Nvidia robotics gurus, just secured a whopping $90 million to make that dream a reality. They’ve launched the Dream API, offering what they call the first publicly available API for a robot foundation model. Essentially, for as little as 75 cents an hour, you can send your robot’s camera feed and some plain-English instructions, and their AI will practically run the show – even if it’s never seen that specific robot before!

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You Can Now Vibe Code A Robot: Standard Bots

Forget everything you thought you knew about programming industrial robots. Standard Bots is shaking things up big time with their new AI platform, letting anyone "vibe code" a robot with just an iPad and natural language. Yep, we're talking about frontline workers setting up complex tasks in minutes, no complicated code, no expensive integrators, and no specialized degrees required. This isn't just a small tweak; it's a massive game-changer for how businesses approach automation, potentially saving millions and opening doors for countless manufacturers.

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This Robot Finishes Drywall 3X Faster Than Humans. Now It Has $20 Million To Learn More Trades

Ever thought construction was too messy for robots? Think again! A startup called Origin is proving that wrong with its incredible robot, OG-1, which can finish drywall walls — from applying joint compound to sanding and priming — a whopping three times faster than a human crew. This isn’t just a lab experiment; OG-1 is already making waves on job sites, and now Origin has officially come out of stealth with a hefty $20 million in funding to really scale up its operations.

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You Can Now Vibe Code A Robot: Standard Bots

Forget everything you thought you knew about programming robots, because Standard Bots just dropped a game-changer! Now, if you’ve got an iPad, you can basically “vibe code” a robot to do complex tasks in minutes, no fancy coding, no expensive experts, and potentially save your company millions. CEO Evan Beard explains it like chatting with your robot, telling it what you want to automate, much like you would with AI tools like Claude Code.

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‘Infinite Demand For Robots:’ Inside Matter Venture Partners’ $450 Million Bet On Physical AI

Ever wonder what happens when AI truly starts to “eat the world”? According to Haomiao Huang, founding partner at Matter Venture Partners, hardware will be its teeth. And they’re putting $450 million behind that idea, closing a massive new fund to back the next wave of hard tech startups in areas like robotics, physical AI, and advanced manufacturing. Huang, who was tinkering with early quadcopter drones at Stanford, sees a perfect storm brewing for robotics: smarter models, powerful onboard brains, and an insane demand driven by us bringing manufacturing home and facing an aging workforce.

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Startup Releases 50-Billion-Parameter Physical General Foundation Model For Instant Robot Intelligence

Imagine a world where you can just tell a robot what you want it to do, even with objects it’s never seen, and it just… does it. While huge companies like Figure are pouring billions into building full-blown humanoid robot brains, a lesser-known startup called Nature Will is making waves with a different approach. They’ve just unveiled something they call a “physical general foundation model” for robot hands, claiming it gives robots instant intelligence for dexterous tasks.

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Startup Releases 50-Billion-Parameter Physical General Foundation Model For Instant Robot Intelligence

You know how companies like Figure are pouring billions into building humanoid robots with brains that really get the world, trying to replicate our understanding? Think about all that incredible tech and the vast sums committed to making robots think and perceive like us. Well, get this: there's a startup lab you've probably never even heard of that just dropped a bombshell.

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Hexagon Is Putting 1,000 Humanoid Robots In Schaeffler Factories. This Is Not A Copy-Paste Process

Hold onto your hats, folks, because the future of factories is rolling in – quite literally! German motion technology company Schaeffler has made a massive commitment to deploy a whopping 1,000 Hexagon Robotics Aeon humanoid robots across its global factories by 2032. This isn’t just a pilot; this is a full-blown robot revolution! These aren’t your typical fixed-arm factory bots either.

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1,000 humanoid robots. 1 factory.

What does it actually take to put 1,000 humanoid robots to work? Hexagon Robotics President Arnaud Robert joins me to explain how the company is moving its Aeon humanoid from pilots and demonstrations into real industrial production, including a plan with Schaeffler that could eventually scale to 1,000 robots. And the big lesson is that scaling humanoids isn't about taking one robot doing one task and multiplying it by 1,000.

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Humanoid Robots Are Leaving Safety Cages. Proving Actual Safety Is Harder

Okay, so you know how sci-fi movies always show robots just chilling with people, no big deal? Well, apparently, we're getting really close to that becoming a reality! John Koetsier's latest Forbes piece dropped a bombshell: humanoid robots are about to break free from their safety cages within the next 18 months. Companies like Agility Robotics, Boston Dynamics, and 1X are already lining up massive pre-orders for robots designed to work right alongside us.

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Agility Robotics Wants To Make 500 Humanoid Robots Safe, Not Just One

Imagine a future where robots aren’t just tucked away behind safety barriers, but are working right beside you, helping out with tasks. That’s the exciting vision Agility Robotics is bringing to life with their next-gen humanoid, Digit 5, designed to operate without a safety cage. It’s a game-changer! But as awesome as one robot working freely sounds, what happens when you have an entire fleet of these humanoids roaming a busy factory floor or warehouse?

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This $3,555 Humanoid Robot Is Slow, Basic, Cheap. Mission Accomplished.

Meet Flourish 1, a new home robot that just stepped out of stealth mode, and it's surprisingly basic – but that's entirely the point! This San Francisco startup has cooked up a bot that costs just $3,555, can learn a new chore in about 30 minutes, and lifts a modest 3.3 pounds. It's not winning any beauty contests with its "chopped-off garbage can with wheels" base, but its cute hat and fresh colors give it some charm.

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AI Eating The World? Sima.ai Is Selling Teeth … And Raised $150 Million To Sharpen Them

Sima.ai is making some serious noise in the AI hardware world, and they just snagged a cool $150 million in Series C funding, pushing their valuation to $1.45 billion and total funding to a whopping $500 million! Why all the excitement? Well, as one expert puts it, if AI is going to "eat the world," then hardware is definitely its "teeth." Sima.ai is right there, selling those teeth in the form of specialized physical AI chips designed to power everything from advanced drones and self-driving cars to the next generation of robots, including humanoids – all rapidly growing industries.

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Humanoid Robot Shipments Jump 432%, China Has 95% Market Share

Get ready for more robots! According to fresh data from IDC, humanoid robot shipments absolutely skyrocketed in the first half of 2026, jumping a mind-boggling 432% to nearly 25,000 units. This isn't just about more robots; revenue also shot up, topping $740 million, indicating that the industry is rapidly scaling up. Good news for those dreaming of robot assistants: this growth spurt means these impressive machines are becoming more affordable, with the average price dropping from around $37,000 to just under $30,000 per robot in a single year!

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AI Eating The World? Sima.ai Is Selling Teeth … And Raised $150 Million To Sharpen Them

Alright tech enthusiasts, let’s talk about the future, specifically the one that walks, flies, and drives itself. We’re diving into Sima.ai, a company that’s not just dreaming about robots, but actually building the brains for them. This seven-year-old startup just snagged a cool $150 million, bumping their total funding to a whopping half a billion dollars and valuing them at an impressive $1.45 billion.

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