Robotics Special: Waymo heads to the Big Apple

Welcome back, Superhuman. Waymo has been steadily grabbing market share from some of the biggest players in the urban mobility industry. But now, the Google subsidiary is taking on its biggest challenge yet. Meanwhile, a secret, women-only robotics club has released two fully-functional robots in one of the most restrictive environments for women in the world.

WHAT’S NEXT

The most important news and breakthroughs in robotics this week

1. Waymo gets the green light to test robotaxis in the Big Apple: The Tesla rival will deploy up to eight Jaguar I-Pace SUVs in New York City through late September, though safety operators must keep at least one hand on the wheel at all times. This marks Waymo's most ambitious testing ground yet, as NYC's notorious traffic far exceeds the company’s current markets in complexity. If successful, the trial could unlock the world's largest and most lucrative urban mobility market.

2. Nvidia-backed startup hits $2B valuation after recent raise: Field AI, a startup that’s backed by industry heavyweights like Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Nvidia, has nabbed $405M across two funding rounds, hitting a $2B valuation. The company develops AI models that enable robots to operate across construction, energy, and logistics with little setup. Founded by former NASA researcher Ali Agha, the company has recently added over 100 employees to meet enterprise demand for automation solutions.

3. Foxconn is reportedly working on an LLM-powered humanoid: The iPhone manufacturer is reportedly set to unveil its first humanoid robot powered by LLMs in November, with NVIDIA providing the AI capabilities needed for brain development. The tech giant plans to deploy these AI-driven robots in Q1 2026 at its new Houston facility, where they'll handle production of NVIDIA's GB300 servers. If true, the partnership could be a significant step toward LLM-integrated manufacturing automation.

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ROBOTS IN ACTION

How robots are transforming the world around us

🩺 Dynamic Duo: In a world-first, Australian surgeons used two robotic systems simultaneously to remove a throat tumor while preserving a patient's voice and swallowing ability. The 27-year-old patient avoided a total laryngectomy that would have permanently removed his voice box, highlighting how dual-robot integration can potentially achieve previously surgical outcomes previously considered impossible.

🦟 Spray Hounds: Hong Kong is set to deploy robot dogs equipped with insecticide sprayers next month to combat Chikungunya virus transmission in hard-to-reach terrain. The quadruped robots will target mosquito breeding sites on hillsides and areas inaccessible to human control teams, while reducing worker exposure during hot weather operations.

👮 Cyber Cops: Nottinghamshire Police in the UK is conducting a three-month trial of AI-equipped robot dogs that could potentially overhaul UK policing by 2026. Featuring weapon detection cameras, LiDAR scanning, and remote communication capabilities, the £24,000 units are designed to enter dangerous situations like sieges and hostage scenarios instead of human officers, while also providing reconnaissance in chemical or biological incidents.

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

Everything else you need to know this week

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

• Serve Robotics has acquired Vayu Robotics to merge sidewalk delivery with large-scale AI foundation models, targeting scalable urban robot deployment.

• Figure AI dropped new viral footage of its Figure 02 humanoid navigating obstacles with its newly developed Helix locomotion control system.

• University of Waterloo researchers have developed tiny magnetic robots that can dissolve kidney stones directly in the urinary tract — no surgery required.

• US Navy's autonomous drone boat program reportedly faces major setbacks after software glitches during tests, leading to a paused $20M contract.

• Boston Dynamics and Toyota Research Institute have teamed up to train Atlas humanoid robots for complex manipulation tasks.

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ROBOT OF THE WEEK

A robot that caught our eye this week

Antigravity has launched the A1, billed as the world's first 360-degree, omnidirectional drone. The 0.55-pound device captures 8K video in every direction simultaneously, then lets you "fly" through the footage afterward using VR goggles and hand controls to pick the perfect angle during post-production.

You can check it out here.

ROBO REEL

Watch: Afghan women turn to secret online coding and robotics amid education ban

'Voices of Hope', a secret robotics club of Afghan women computer science students, barred from university since 2022, has built two robots from their homes using online resources and AI tutorials. The team of six has built robots capable of object recognition and remote operation for $430 each, with plans for drone development.

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Zain and the Superhuman AI team