Robotics Special: Waymo hits record valuation

Welcome back, Superhuman. Most of us have trouble rolling out of bed when the temperature dips below freezing. Unitree just sent its G1 humanoid marching through knee-deep snow in one of the harshest natural conditions on Earth — a brutal test of robot endurance and durability. Meanwhile, Waymo hit a major milestone that could make it one of the most valuable companies in private transportation.

WHAT’S NEXT

The most important news and breakthroughs in robotics this week

1. Waymo cruises to $110B valuation with $16B raise: According to the Financial Times, the startup has locked in $16B in fresh capital that, if true, more than doubles its valuation to $110B. The funding round reportedly attracted multiple new investors, including Dragoneer, Sequoia Capital, and DST Global. With competition heating up from Tesla's robotaxi service in Austin, Waymo is gearing up to expand across the US, while pushing into foreign markets, like London and Tokyo, as well.

2. Unitree stuns the internet with 130K-step trek in blistering cold: In a display of unbelievable endurance, Unitree just dropped a video of its G1 humanoid autonomously trudging through the snow in bone-chilling temperatures of -53°F. The video, which follows the robot as it traces a Winter Olympics emblem across the ice in China’s Xinjiang region, showcases the robot’s mobility and durability in one of the roughest natural conditions on Earth. Watch the wild experiment here.

3. Tesla’s Optimus plans have a China-sized hole in them: The company’s recent plans to manufacture 1M Optimus humanoid robots per year at its Fremont factory could face a major vulnerability. According to a Morgan Stanley analysis, Optimus is heavily dependent on Chinese suppliers for critical parts, which could end up creating an "Optimus chain" similar to Apple's iPhone supply chain. Excluding Chinese components may spike manufacturing costs to $131K per unit, far from Tesla's $20K target price.

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ROBOTS IN ACTION

How robots are transforming the world around us

🤖 Uncanny Valley: A Shanghai-based robotics startup DroidUp is making headlines with Moya, a humanoid robot that’s being hailed as the world’s first "fully biomimetic" design. The robot reportedly smiles, nods, and walks impressively similar to a human, even maintaining body temperature between 89.6°F and 96.8°F to feel more lifelike. It’s expected to deploy to healthcare, education, and commercial settings later this year. Watch it in action here.

🫧 Bubble Bots: Scientists have turned medical imaging bubbles into microrobots that can make their way to tumors and burst on command to deliver chemotherapy. The bubbles can be steered with magnets or autonomously follow chemical gradients. This could possibly make chemotherapy far more precise, slashing doses and side effects by hitting tumors while sparing healthy tissue.

☘️ In the Weeds: Seattle-based Carbon Robotics is bringing foundation models to agriculture with its Large Plant Model (LPM), an AI system trained on one of the largest agricultural datasets ever assembled. The LPM powers the company’s LaserWeeder robots that can identify and eliminate weeds across virtually any crop type in minutes, potentially supporting manual labor and replacing chemical herbicides.

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

Everything else you need to know this week

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

• Mercedes-Benz has unveiled a new S-Class that paves the way for premium autonomous rides that will eventually roll out on Uber’s global platform.

• Uber has appointed a new CFO as it looks to push into robotaxis and ramp up AV investments, targeting driverless trips in up to 15 cities by the end of the year.

• Humanoid has dropped KinetIQ, a “shared brain” AI framework that allows fleets of robots to learn and operate under a single cloud-based control system.

• Bedrock Robotics has picked up $270M in funding to accelerate fully operator-less excavators, aiming to boost construction productivity and safety.

• FedEx has inked a deal with Berkshire Grey to deploy its Scoop robotic trailer unloader, aiming to boost worker safety and efficiency across logistics hubs.

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ROBOT OF THE WEEK

A robot that caught our eye this week

HoverAir’s Aqua doesn’t mind getting wet. The drone is the world's first fully waterproof self-flying camera. It floats, takes off from water, and films 4K at 100 fps with automatic tracking via a wearable beacon. The device can fly up to 23 minutes per charge and withstands winds up to 38 mph. You can watch it zip through the skies and seas here.

You can check it out here.

ROBO REEL

Watch: The "world’s fastest humanoid robot" bolts to 10 m/s in China

When robots ran the marathon in Beijing last year, they took hours to cross the finish line. Now, it seems those days may soon be coming to an end.

Chinese company MirrorMe Technology has unveiled Bolt, claiming it's the fastest humanoid robot ever built. The robot reportedly hit 10 m/s in real-world testing, making it the first full-size humanoid to reach such speeds outside the lab. It’s meant to serve as an athletic training partner for elite Chinese athletes. See it in action here.

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Zain, Faiq and the Superhuman AI team