Robotics Special: Tesla Robotaxis hit the road in Austin

Welcome back, Superhuman. After a lot of anticipation and hype, Tesla finally rolled out its much-awaited Robotaxi service on the streets of Austin this week, but it’s safe to say that things didn’t quite go as planned. Meanwhile, Samsung is reportedly looking to ride the robotics wave by exploring an untapped niche in the humanoid robotics space.

P.S. The Robotics Special is designed to help you stay on the cutting edge of the latest breakthroughs and products in the industry. Our regular AI and Tech updates will resume as usual on Monday.

WHAT’S NEXT

The most important news and breakthroughs in robotics this week

1. Tesla’s much-awaited Robotaxis finally hit the road in Austin: The company finally rolled out its hotly anticipated Robotaxi service for a select few users this week. The invite-only program featured Model Y vehicles cruising a geofenced area with human safety operators riding shotgun. Our social feeds were flooded with enthusiastic early testers describing the experience as "smooth", “great”, and “normal”.

• But the service has since hit some speed bumps: Just days into its test phase, a slew of videos popped up on social media showing the vehicles entering the wrong lanes, dropping passengers off in the middle of the road, speeding, and even driving over curbs. Though no accidents were reported, it has caught the attention of federal safety regulators.

2. Samsung eyes first-mover edge in robotics camera modules: The smartphone maker is reportedly positioning itself to become the eyes of the humanoid robot wave, possibly leveraging its expertise in smartphone cameras and AI to develop advanced vision systems. The South Korean tech giant apparently sees robotics as a "rare growth opportunity" as the smartphone camera market reaches saturation. Rival LG Innotek has already been down that road with firms like Boston Dynamics and Figure AI.

3. Softbank’s reportedly planning $1T robotics center in Arizona: According to Bloomberg, Softbank founder Masayoshi Son is pitching a trillion-dollar AI and robotics industrial complex in Arizona, seeking to build America's answer to China's Shenzhen manufacturing hub. Son's vision includes teaming up with chip giant TSMC and courting an array of tech firms. He’s already prepared a list of SoftBank Vision Fund portfolio companies that could potentially establish facilities at the complex.

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ROBOTS IN ACTION

How robots are transforming the world around us

🐶 Man’s Best Friend: Robotics company Tombot has picked up $6.1M in Series A funding to bring its lifelike robotic puppy "Jennie" to market as a therapeutic companion for seniors with dementia. The golden retriever-style robot responds to touch, voice, and movement while mimicking real dog behaviors. Watch it in action here.

🥕 Food Police: American food giant Cargill has a new employee patrolling its Amsterdam factory — Boston Dynamics' robot dog Spot. The four-legged bot inspects equipment, monitors gauges, and spots safety hazards. Plant managers can even program Spot to answer simple questions about facility conditions with "yes" or "no" responses.

🪖 Wartime Scout: China’s National University of Defence Technology has unveiled a mosquito-sized drone designed for covert military operations. The tiny flying robot is packed with leaf-like flapping wings and three hair-thin legs for perching, making it ideal for stealth reconnaissance in tough environments.

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

Everything else you need to know this week

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

• Tesla CEO Elon Musk shared some improvements in the company’s upcoming Optimus V3, confirming that it is already using a Grok voice assistant.

• Robotics firm Apptronik has launched Elevate Robotics, a new subsidiary focused on developing "superhuman" industrial robots.

• OpenAI CEO Sam Altman suggested in a recent interview that future premium ChatGPT subscription tiers may potentially come with a humanoid robot.

• Berkeley engineers have built an open-source humanoid robot that costs under $5K and can be created using 3D-printed parts and off-the-shelf components.

• Waymo has expanded its robotaxi service to Atlanta, making it the company's fifth significant US location and the second city where it's partnering with Uber.

• German startup Neura Robotics reportedly aims to pick up to $1.2B in fresh funding as it looks to launch its next-generation humanoid robot, the 4NE-1.

ROBOT OF THE WEEK

A robot that caught our eye this week

The days of rescuing your robot vacuum from tangled cords and stray socks are over.

Robotics company Roborock has packed its Saros Z70 robotic vacuum with a mechanical arm to clear its own path, lifting items like socks, toys, or cables — that would otherwise trip up lesser bots. With 22K Pa suction power, AI navigation, and heated mops that automatically lift when carpets are detected, the Saros Z70 represents a huge leap in home cleaning automation.

You can check it out here.

ROBO REEL

Watch: Korean bot pulls off 88 lbs bicep curls in major power move

This robot doesn’t need protein shakes to outlift most fitness buffs.

Korea's Atomic Energy Research Institute has unveiled a humanoid robot that can curl 88 lbs with each arm — roughly what an elite athlete can do. Designed for disaster response and nuclear decommissioning, the ARMstrong Dex lifted and lowered weight plates attached to ropes in a recent demonstration video.

Though impressive, this is only a fraction of what the bot's true strength is, as each arm is actually rated to lift up to 441 lbs.

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Zain and the Superhuman AI team