Robotics – Product Management Confabulation

February 14, 2025

Figure AI is in talks to raise $1.5B at 15x its last valuation

Robotics startup Figure AI is raising $1.5 billion at a $39.5 billion valuation, a whopping 15 times higher than before.

February 14, 2025

Meta’s next big bet may be humanoid robotics

Meta is forming a new team within its Reality Labs hardware division to build robots that can assist with physical tasks, Bloomberg reported. The team will be responsible for developing humanoid robotics hardware, potentially including hardware that can perform household chores. Meta’s new robotics group, which will be led by Marc Whitten, driverless car startup […]

February 14, 2025

ICON, a pioneer in 3D home printing, raises $56M led by Norwest, Tiger Global

ICON, which builds homes using 3D printing, has closed on $56 million in Series C funding co-led by Norwest Venture Partners and Tiger Global, the company has confirmed to TechCrunch exclusively. The raise represents a first close for the Austin-based ICON, according to a spokesperson. Existing backers CAZ Investments, LENX, Moderne Ventures, Oakhouse Partners and […]

February 13, 2025

Avride launches sidewalk delivery bots on Uber Eats in Jersey City

Uber Eats customers in Jersey City can now have their orders delivered by one of Avride’s autonomous sidewalk delivery robots. The launch, which kicked off this week in New Jersey, is Uber’s latest foray into autonomous vehicles and represents an expanding relationship with Avride. The ride-hail and delivery giant deploys AVs on its app in […]

February 13, 2025

Apptronik, which makes humanoid robots, raises $350M as category heats up

Apptronik, a University of Texas spin-out that was quietly building humanoid robots before it became quite so fashionable, on Thursday announced a $350 million Series A round of financing. B Capital and Capital Factory co-led the round, which also featured participation from Google, whose DeepMind division is partnering with Apptronik to deliver embodied AI for […]

February 13, 2025

Apptronik, which makes humanoid robots, raises $350M as category heats up

February 12, 2025

Apple is reportedly exploring humanoid robots

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-style lamp. While Apple’s research paper highlights elements that could […]

February 12, 2025

Watch these Google DeepMind robots play a game of soccer

Watch out, FIFA. Researchers at Google DeepMind published a demonstration of miniature humanoid robots playing a one-on-one game of soccer. Training Robotis OP3, the researchers found they were able to learn movement skills like walking, kicking, and being able to recover from a fall. According to the report, the robots were also able to develop […]

February 8, 2025

Apple’s new research robot takes a page from Pixar’s playbook

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 movement.” To illustrate its point, Apple pays homage to Pixar, […]

February 7, 2025

Meta is studying how humans and robots can collaborate on housework

Meta Friday announced PARTNR, a new program designed to study human-robot interaction (HRI). The research is specifically focused on how humans and robots might collaborate in the home environment. That includes mundane tasks like cleaning, cooking, and picking up food deliveries. Automated housework is a decades-old dream, most prominently captured by The Jetsons’ Rosie. The […]