Robotics Special: Roomba maker files for bankruptcy

Welcome back, Superhuman. Knockoffs, bad decisions, and plain old bad luck. Put them together, and even an industry icon can come undone. This week, robotics pioneer iRobot, the company behind the iconic Roomba, filed for bankruptcy in a stunning fall from grace.

At the same time, Tesla moved in the opposite direction. The company’s stock surged to a near-year high after CEO Elon Musk took to social media to tease a major update on the company’s long-awaited Cybercab.

WHAT’S NEXT

The most important news and breakthroughs in robotics this week

1. Roomba maker iRobot files for bankruptcy after 35 years: After a failed $1.4B Amazon acquisition and mounting pressure from Chinese rivals, the company just filed for Chapter 11 and is set to be acquired by its primary manufacturer, Picea Robotics. Despite holding 42% of the US robotic vacuum market, iRobot saw profits evaporate as new tariffs on Vietnam imports piled on more than $23M in costs this year. It's a stunning fall for a company valued at $3.56B in 2021, now worth just $140M.

2. Tesla shares surge after Musk confirms fully driverless robotaxi tests: Tesla stock jumped 4.9% to hit $481.4 (its highest in nearly a year) after CEO Elon Musk announced the company is testing out robotaxis without safety monitors. The EV maker launched a limited robotaxi service in Austin back in June using Model Y vehicles with safety monitors, but now says it’s testing removing the human backup entirely. Tesla is gearing up to launch its Cybercab model next year, though it faces stiff competition from Waymo.

3. Unitree’s new app store lets you control humanoid robots by phone: The company just unveiled the world's first humanoid robot app store, allowing developers and users to control robots directly from their smartphones, adapt training datasets across machines — all while mirroring mobile app ecosystems. Unitree founder Wang Xingxing, one of China's leading voices on robotics, says voice-commanded task completion could possibly arrive next year.

SPONSORED BY PALADIN

Utility companies DO NOT want you to read this

As the U.S. enters record-high energy needs (data centers, winter energy needs, etc.), Paladin offers a more cost-effective, more reliable at-home power source that doesn’t depend on utility companies. 

Its all-in-one energy storage system can power an entire residential or commercial property (including EVs), resulting in $8M+ in revenue in 2025 with 22% YoY growth. 

Want to help bring this needed tech to the entire $209B+ global electrification market? 

Invest today for an additional 30% in tiered product discounts—but hurry, their current funding round closes at midnight tonight.*

ROBOTS IN ACTION

How robots are transforming the world around us

🧑‍🚀 Space Stroll: In a first for space robotics, Stanford researchers deployed an AI system that guided NASA's cube-shaped Astrobee robot autonomously through the ISS for 4 hours straight. The machine learning model slashed trajectory planning time by 50-60%, letting the robot make its way through tight corridors and avoid obstacles while freeing up astronauts for higher-priority work. Watch the groundbreaking moment here.

🩺 Dr. Drone: Scientists are using drones to catch 'cetacean morbillivirus,' a deadly pathogen that spreads easily among dolphins, whales, and porpoises. By equipping drones with sterile petri dishes to capture exhaled droplets from surfacing humpbacks, fin whales, and sperm whales, scientists can monitor whale health in real-time without causing stress, spotting threats to marine mammals before mass strandings occur.

👀 Bot Bellhop: Fresh off a $41M funding round, Chinese startup Noetix just unveiled Hobbs W1, a robotic receptionist designed for hotels, retail, and corporate lobbies. Unlike typical social robots stuck in one spot, Hobbs W1 moves around autonomously, hands over items, and handles light tasks. Watch Hobbs W1 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:

• UPS is spending $120M on 400 truck-unloading robots as part of a sweeping automation push to cut labor costs and boost margins by 2028.

• Sharpa Robotics has kicked off mass production of its SharpaWave robotic hand, widely considered one of the most advanced robotic hands in the world.

• Robotics startup Otis has revealed how cloud APIs and two-way digital controls now let robots safely call, ride, and coordinate elevators in real-world buildings.

• Shenzhen is set to launch China’s first robot-friendly urban zone, creating a live training ground where humanoid robots can learn, fail, and scale in the real world.

• Serve Robotics has now rolled out over 2,000 sidewalk delivery robots across major US cities, signaling that last-mile robot delivery is scaling fast.

SPONSORED BY AWS

Build production-ready, multi-agent AI systems in a few lines of code

Don’t try to code for every possible scenario. With Strands Agents, you can create systems that leverage LLMs to make decisions about tool usage and adapt to any situation.

New updates:

• Supports Python and TypeScript

• Improved support for edge devices

• Steering feature to help guide agents toward desired outcomes

Start building.

ROBOT OF THE WEEK

A robot that caught our eye this week

Imagine a miniaturized version of the Las Vegas Sphere, but this time, it’s your personal AI assistant.

The OBBOTO Glowbot uses advanced motion sensing and AI to serve as your personal desktop companion. It can act as a natural alarm clock, a night-time noise machine, a real-time weather forecaster, a mindfulness coach, and more. Plus, it offers a wide variety of personalized backgrounds and themes, or you can create your own. You can see a quick review here.

You can check it out here.

ROBO REEL

Watch: Unitree robots tear up the stage with “insane” Webster flips

Robots know how to shake it off.

Unitree's G1 humanoid robots just stole the show at Chinese singer Wang Leehom's concert in Chengdu, performing synchronized dance routines in front of over 18,000 fans. The flashy outfit-clad robots blended seamlessly with human backup dancers, marking one of the first major concert deployments of humanoid robots.

Your opinion matters!

You’re the reason our team spends hundreds of hours every week researching and writing this email. Please let us know what you thought of today’s email to help us create better emails for you.

Until next time,

Zain and the Superhuman AI team

*Disclaimer: This is a paid advertisement for Paladin Power's Regulation CF offering. Please read the offering circular and related risks at wefunder.com/paladinpowerinc.