Robotics Special: Figure clears its biggest hurdle yet

Welcome back, Superhuman. Robots are slowly taking over the tasks humans dread most. This week, Figure AI claimed to have cleared one of its biggest hurdles yet by training its Helix 02 model to tidy up an entire living room all on its own — a major leap towards scalable humanoid intelligence. Meanwhile, in China, one Unitree robot made global headlines after an unexpected run-in with the law.

WHAT’S NEXT

The most important news and breakthroughs in robotics this week

1. Figure’s home robots just cleared their biggest hurdle yet: Figure's Helix 02 has graduated from kitchen duty to one of home robotics' toughest challenges. Using the same general-purpose neural architecture, the robot can now autonomously tidy up a living room, carrying out complex tasks on its own, and squeezing through tight gaps in furniture. It’s one of the clearest signs yet that scalable humanoid intelligence is closer than most people expected. Watch the breakthrough here.

2. DJI's robot vacuum has a very expensive security botch: Engineer Sammy Azdoufal was tinkering with his DJI Romo vacuum to see if he could steer it with a PlayStation controller. He ended up accidentally exposing a network of 7,000 DJI Romo vacuums to potential remote access. DJI is now paying Azdoufal $30k for the discovery, and has reportedly already patched the flaw. It's a notable turnaround for the company, which enraged the security community in 2017 over a botched vulnerability disclosure.

3. German researchers have built a robot that finds your lost stuff: Scientists from the Technical University of Munich have built a new robot that uses 3D vision to track down misplaced objects around the home. It scans the room to build a centimeter-accurate spatial map, then uses AI to calculate the most likely spots your missing item could be, finding objects 30% more efficiently than a random room search. Future iterations of the robot are set to open drawers and cupboards to look inside.

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ROBOTS IN ACTION

How robots are transforming the world around us

👮 Rap Sheet: A humanoid robot in Macau just became the first robot to get "arrested" by police after startling a 70-year-old woman. The Unitree G1, owned by a local education center, seemed to have crept up silently behind the woman as she checked her phone. The incident has reignited a global debate about robot safety in public spaces — one that's only going to get louder as humanoids become fixtures of everyday life. Watch the robot get hauled off the streets here.

🐬 Dolphin Duty: Engineers at RMIT University have built a dolphin-shaped robot that reportedly vacuums oil spills from water. The sneaker-sized robot uses a filter that repels water while trapping oil at more than 95% purity. It currently runs for 15 minutes, but researchers envision autonomous versions that empty, recharge, and redeploy on their own. It could be a potential game-changer for the billions of dollars lost to clean oil spills every year.

🐎 Centaur Code: Chinese researchers have built a wearable robot that "turns humans into centaurs". The robot straps two mechanical legs to your back, making it easier for you to walk while carrying heavy loads, cutting metabolic energy use by 35% and foot pressure by 52%. If the technology scales, it could have massive implications for soldiers, rescue workers, and industrial laborers carrying heavy gear across brutal terrain. Watch the unique design in action here.

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

Everything else you need to know this week

Here are the biggest developments in the robotics space that you should know about:

• Amazon has cut at least 100 corporate roles in its robotics division as part of ongoing restructuring tied to efficiency gains from AI and broader cost-cutting.

• Mind Robotics raised $500M in a funding round led by Accel and Andreessen Horowitz to build industrial robots trained on factory data from Rivian.

• Uber has signed a multi-year partnership with Zoox to deploy purpose-built robotaxis on its platform, starting with a launch in Las Vegas this summer.

• ABB Robotics is teaming up with NVIDIA to integrate NVIDIA Omniverse into its platform, enabling manufacturers to train robots in highly realistic simulations.

• iRobot has launched the compact Roomba Mini in the UK and Europe, a smaller robot cleaner with LiDAR navigation and a dock designed for tighter living spaces.

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ROBOT OF THE WEEK

A robot that caught our eye this week

School is now in session, but not in the way you might expect. 

Booster Robotics launched the K1 humanoid robot for kids and education. The robot walks, balances, and interacts in real time using depth cameras and motion sensors. It ships fully assembled and comes in a portable case so you’re ready to deploy straight away — all for the price of a high-end laptop. Watch it in action here.

You can check it out here.

ROBO REEL

Watch: Chinese firm unveils robot horse that gallops around and carries riders like the real thing

Giddy up! China just rang in the Year of the Horse by building a robotic one.

Chinese robotics firm DEEP Robotics has reskinned its M20 Pro quadruped to look like a traditional Chinese stallion. The robot trots and gallops through urban parks with uncanny realism, and it can even carry a rider. While the cultural flair is playful, the tech underneath is built for real-world applications like inspection and rescue. Watch it gallop around here.

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Until next time,

Zain, Faiq, and the Superhuman AI team