Robotics Special: Robots make it to the White House

Welcome back, Superhuman. Washington is finally open for humanoid robots. In what’s being hailed as a historic moment for the industry, Figure’s 03 humanoid became the first robot to enter the White House. Meanwhile, a huge player just burst onto the consumer home robotics scene with a major acquisition.

WHAT’S NEXT

The most important news and breakthroughs in robotics this week

1. Figure 03 becomes the first humanoid robot to enter the White House: In a move that cements robotics as a major US government priority, Figure 03 walked down the White House hallways at the "Fostering the Future Together" global summit earlier this week. The robot greeted people in 11 languages as the government made the case for AI-powered education, describing a future where humanoid teachers deliver personalized lessons tailored to each student. Watch the historic moment unfold here.

2. Amazon enters the consumer humanoid market with major acquisition: The e-commerce giant has acquired Fauna Robotics, a New York startup that went viral earlier this year with the launch of Sprout, a child-sized humanoid designed for household tasks. The deal incorporates Fauna's team into Amazon's Personal Robotics Group, while the brand lives on. Sprout currently retails for $50k, putting Amazon in direct competition with Tesla, Figure AI, and Boston Dynamics. Watch Sprout’s unique design in action here.

3. OpenClaw leaps from laptops to robots in China: While the world still experiments with AI agents, China is already deploying them in robots. Robotics firm Ecovacs has debuted Bajie, a household robot powered by OpenClaw. Meanwhile, developers have integrated OpenClaw into Unitree's G1 humanoid to navigate spaces in real time, and AgileX Robotics has published a guide for natural language control of its robotic arm. Xiaomi is also testing its own variant across smartphones and smart home devices.

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ROBOTS IN ACTION

How robots are transforming the world around us

🍔 McRobot: A McDonald's in Shanghai is now partly staffed by humanoid robots dressed in the chain's signature red-and-yellow uniforms, greeting customers, and delivering food in a new pilot. Fast food has always been an early adopter of automation, but integrating robots in customer-facing roles is a different threshold altogether. Watch it get crossed here.

🪂 Help From the Skies: When a 911 call comes in, getting eyes on a scene before first responders arrive can be the difference between life and death. Now, Sam Altman-backed startup BRINC has unveiled a new drone built around that problem, combining Starlink connectivity and swappable payloads like defibrillators and Narcan into a system that can potentially operate around the clock and respond to calls up to 8 miles away.

✈️ Airport Amigo: José, an AI-powered humanoid robot, just kicked off its first shift at San José Mineta International Airport. Developed by local startup IntBot, José greets travelers, answers questions, and provides real-time airport information in more than 50 languages. The four-month pilot is timed ahead of the FIFA World Cup, when the airport expects a surge of international visitors. Watch José help travelers out 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:

• Zoox is expanding testing of its steering-wheel-less robotaxis to Austin and Miami as it gears up for a broader rollout beyond Las Vegas and San Francisco.

• US. lawmakers are pushing a bipartisan bill to ban federal use of Chinese-made robots over national security concerns.

• Agile Robots has partnered with Google DeepMind to deploy Gemini-powered robots across industrial sectors, deepening Big Tech’s push into physical AI.

• Lucid Bots has picked up $20M in new funding to scale its window-washing drones, betting on real-world industrial use cases over humanoid hype.

• X Square Robot has launched China’s first home-cleaning robot service in Shenzhen, bringing embodied AI into everyday household use.

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ROBOT OF THE WEEK

A robot that caught our eye this week

No chef, no problem. Nosh has unveiled the Nosh One, a countertop robot designed to cook full meals autonomously after users load in ingredients. Equipped with a built-in camera, the device monitors food in real time, adjusting heat, stirring, and timing as it cooks, and supports over 500 recipes. You can see it in action here. You can check out the product website here.

ROBO REELS

Watch: Unitree humanoid robot spotted running and playing with kids on NYC streets

Here are a few other viral moments lighting up social media right now that you won’t want to miss:

💥 The Tables Turn: Most people expect robots to do things for us, so imagine this social media user’s surprise when one turned the tables and asked a human for help.

🐘 Bot Undercover: Ever wonder how the BBC manages to get those jaw-dropping close-ups in its wildlife documentaries? The answer is far from what you’d expect.

⛄️ The Snowman Show: A robotic version of Disney’s Olaf surprised the crowd when it took the stage alongside Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at last week’s GTC event.

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Until next time,

Zain, Faiq, and the Superhuman AI team