Robotics Special: US govt goes all-in on robotics

Welcome back, Superhuman. Feels like it was just yesterday when Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot stumbled into the spotlight and was largely mocked for what was an awkward, shaky debut. Fast forward to this week, and the company has just gone viral with a new video showing Optimus in full stride. And rivals Figure weren’t far behind in showing off their humanoid.

WHAT’S NEXT

The most important news and breakthroughs in robotics this week

1. The era of slow, lumbering humanoids is officially over: Tesla just dropped viral footage of its Optimus robot jogging eerily like a human, with dramatically improved balance and gait control. Robotics startup Figure AI clapped back with a video of its own, teasing the extraordinary speed and agility of its 03 humanoid. Both videos instantly blew up on social media, shattering the industry benchmark and igniting a debate on who did it better. Here’s an "apples to apples" comparison so you can judge for yourself.

2. The White House is going all-in on robotics: According to Politico, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is meeting with industry CEOs about a potential executive order next year. Discussions center around tax incentives and federal funding for robotics companies, strengthening supply chains, and implementing trade policies targeting Chinese subsidies and IP practices. It’s an attempt by the US to close the gap with China, which operates 2M industrial robots to America's 440K, according to data by the IFR.

3. UK firm Humanoid’s new robot walks 48 hours after assembly: Talk about being a fast learner. The HMND 01 Alpha robot has shattered development timelines, reportedly reaching stable walking in just 48 hours after final assembly. The company used Nvidia’s Isaac Sim model to train the robot using more than 52.5M seconds of locomotion data in two days, compressing what would've been more than 19 months of conventional training. You can watch the record-breaking feat here.

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ROBOTS IN ACTION

How robots are transforming the world around us

🕵️ 007 Gone Wrong: A video allegedly showing a Chinese "spy robot" patrolling the India-China border has ignited speculation online. The 34-second clip, filmed by Indian soldiers, appears to show a stationary humanoid-like object at the Line of Actual Control, though there’s been no official confirmation of the validity of the incident.

👨‍🌾 Farm Bot: Malaysian agtech firm Agroz is putting humanoid robots to work in vertical farms for the first time. The company has joined hands with China's UBTECH to deploy Walker S robots that will autonomously handle seeding, monitoring, and harvesting crops in stacked growing facilities.

🏃 On the Move: A video showing a sports store using AI-powered robots to demonstrate how sports wear looks in real motion is gaining traction online. Social media users were quick to point out that the concept is especially useful in showing sports gear that’s supposed to remain in place when you’re moving.

👁️ Eye Aye: UCLA's Horizon Surgical Systems just nailed the world's first robot-assisted cataract surgery, achieving unprecedented 0.053mm precision in eye procedures. Ten patients successfully underwent surgery using the Polaris platform, where surgeons teleoperated robotic arms to execute corneal incisions and lens removal — all with "no adverse events".

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

Everything else you need to know this week

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

• A Unitree G1 humanoid just took the internet by storm after dropping to all fours and crawling with animal-like speed, stunning and unsettling users online.

• Axios reports that robotaxis are set to expand to 15 more markets by 2026, as Waymo, Uber, Tesla, and Zoox accelerate the nationwide rollout of driverless rides.

• Nvidia has dropped Alpamayo-R1, a vision-language reasoning model for autonomous driving, and new tools to ramp up robotics and self-driving research.

• EngineAI, a Chinese robotics firm, was forced to release unedited, single-take footage to prove its T800 humanoid’s viral stunt moves were not CGI.

• Uber has partnered with Waymo rival Avride to launch a new robotaxi service in downtown Dallas as part of a push to dominate global self-driving mobility.

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ROBOT OF THE WEEK

A robot that caught our eye this week

Casio's Moflin lets you have a pet without any of the upkeep.

The $429 furry robot, roughly hamster-sized, uses emotional recognition to develop a unique personality over weeks, creating what Casio claims are over 4 million possible emotional profiles. It can't walk, but responds to touch and sound with nuzzles, head tilts, and expressive chirps. See it in action here.

You can check it out here.

ROBO REEL

Watch: Cristiano Ronaldo squares off with “unbeatable goalie robot” in penalty shootout

We’re about to find out what happens when an immovable object meets an unstoppable force.

Former NASA engineer Mark Rober has built a lightning-fast robotic goalkeeper to go head-to-head with Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the greatest soccer players of all time. Watch the full showdown here to see who came out on top.

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Until next time,

Zain and the Superhuman AI team