Robotics Special: Hugging Face disrupts the industry

Welcome back, Superhuman. Many major technological breakthroughs follow a similar pattern: they debut at astronomical prices for the select few, then steadily drop and become accessible to everyone else. Robotics is no different. We finally seem to be approaching a point where companies are racing to democratize access to physical AI at a breakneck pace.

WHAT’S NEXT

The most important news and breakthroughs in robotics this week

1. Hugging Face democratizes access to robotics with new desktop robot: The company has opened up orders for its Reachy Mini robot, a completely open-source workspace companion. Packed with full Python programmability, it enables developers to leverage Hugging Face's extensive archive of over 1.7 million AI models. It costs almost as much as a smartphone, democratizing robotics for developers who previously couldn't afford the industry's steep entry price. Watch it in action here or place your order here.

2. China’s new robot dog sprints into the record books: The world’s fastest robot dog isn’t American-made anymore. China’s Black Panther 2.0 quadruped just overtook Boston Dynamics’ Spot, blitzing through a 100-meter run in a little over 13 seconds during a live demonstration in Wuhan. This almost matches the pace of Olympic legend Usain Bolt and positions China for a Guinness World Record. It’s a major development, especially since breaking speed barriers usually translates into real-world applications.

3. Experimental bot becomes first-ever to perform surgery all on its own: Until now, robotic surgeries have nearly always been teleoperated. Now, Johns Hopkins researchers have built an experimental surgical robot that can perform a complex phase of gallbladder removal autonomously. Achieving 100% accuracy across 8 tests on pig organs, the robot represents a huge leap from current systems like the da Vinci, which still needs human surgeons to control every move remotely.

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ROBOTS IN ACTION

How robots are transforming the world around us

🪲 Rescue Squad: Australian researchers have transformed ordinary beetles into remote-controlled "cyborg insects", fitting them with removable microchip backpacks and using video game controllers to guide their movements from side to side and even up vertical walls. They could potentially slash search time in disaster scenarios like building collapses. Watch them in action here.

🐕️ Cyber Watchdogs: Wildlife strikes cause millions in damage to aircraft annually, with birds alone posing serious risks. Now, the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center has unleashed a pack of robot coyotes to protect military airfields from wildlife hazards. While currently remote-controlled, future versions will be autonomous and will have species-specific deterrent tactics.

🧑‍💼 Workers of Steel: McKinsey's latest report reveals the market for general-purpose robots could reach a staggering $370B by 2040. This means we could be approaching a tipping point where robots move beyond factory floors and into everyday workplaces, though McKinsey says this depends less on the current hype and more on companies that "prepare early, experiment wisely and scale responsibly."

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

Everything else you need to know this week

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

• Alphabet-backed Waymo has launched mapping trips to Philadelphia and NYC, signaling a potential expansion of its driverless service to the East Coast.

• NEURA Robotics has joined hands with HD Hyundai Robotics to develop and test advanced humanoid robots for the shipbuilding sector.

• Elon Musk has suggested that Tesla Cybercabs may be rolling out to San Francisco “in a month or two” pending regulatory approvals.

• Australian scientists have unveiled LENS, a robotic vision system that uses less memory than a smartphone photo and is compatible with nearly all robots.

• Adam Dorr from the tech futurist think tank ‘RethinkX’ predicts robots will make human labor obsolete in 20 years, eliminating "work" as an economic concept.

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ROBOT OF THE WEEK

A robot that caught our eye this week

The robotics wave may finally be hitting your price range.

Y Combinator-backed K-Scale Labs is launching the K-Bot, an open-source humanoid robot built in a Palo Alto garage. It can follow voice commands to do simple chores around the house, like prepare your morning toast and mop your floors. Initial models are expected to hit the shelves in November for as low as $999.

You can check it out on GitHub.

ROBO REEL

Watch: An underground robot fight club is blowing up on tech socials

This fight club broke the first rule. It’s been popping up all over the internet.

An underground robot fighting league has emerged in San Francisco, featuring Chinese humanoids from companies like Unitree and Booster duking it out in secret venues with rave-like atmospheres. These events are reportedly drawing entrepreneurs who see a future where humans control real robots in combat, while similar events are sprouting up in Detroit and China.

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Until next time,

Zain and the Superhuman AI team