Robotics Special: Whistleblower takes Figure AI to court

Welcome back, Superhuman. The human hand is one of the body’s most complex structures, packing more than 34 muscles and over 100 ligaments into a relatively tiny frame. Robotics engineers have been trying to replicate it (with little luck) for years. Now, one dark horse startup may have come closer than anyone ever has, and the results are shockingly realistic.

WHAT’S NEXT

The most important news and breakthroughs in robotics this week

1. China sounds the alarm on possible ‘bubble risks’ in robotics: The country’s National Development and Reform Commission just threw cold water on its robotics boom, flagging that 150+ companies churning out nearly identical humanoids could create a bubble that squeezes out genuine innovation. The concern comes as the sector has exploded since Unitree's dancing robots stole the show at this year's Spring Festival Gala, sending stocks up nearly 30% and attracting projections of a $7T market by 2050.

2. Figure AI sued after whistleblower warns of deadly robot risks: The Nvidia-backed startup is being sued by its former head of product safety, Robert Gruendel, who claims he was fired days after warning executives that the company's robots were "powerful enough to fracture a human skull." Gruendel alleges the company gutted its safety roadmap right after closing a $39B valuation round two months ago. Figure denies the claims, setting up what could be the first major whistleblower case in the industry.

3. Viral startup unveils 'creepy-realistic' humanoid hand: Polish startup Clone Robotics just dropped a demo of its new robotic hand that mirrors human movements with ultra-realistic grip strength and speed. The hand uses a neural network trained on hours of human hand footage to understand motion in real-time. Using water-powered Myofiber muscles that have weathered 650K test cycles without fatigue, it’s one of the most durable artificial muscle systems in public demos. See the realistic robotic hand here.

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ROBOTS IN ACTION

How robots are transforming the world around us

🎞️ Reel to Real: Remember Olaf from the hit Disney movie 'Frozen'? The iconic character is stepping out of the screen into real life as a lifelike robot that can hold conversations, make eye contact, and move with the fluidity of his on-screen counterpart. Built on Newton, an open-source simulation framework by NVIDIA and DeepMind, Olaf will soon greet guests at Disneyland Paris's World of Frozen. See him in action here.

⚒️ Repair Job: Archaeologists at Pompeii are using twin robotic arms for the mammoth task of reassembling ancient Roman frescoes shattered by Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD and then bombed again during World War II. The EU-funded robot uses flexible hands, vision sensors, and AI that can match colors and patterns invisible to the human eye to piece together fragments without damaging their delicate surfaces.

🌳 Tree Trooper: Teenage Portuguese students, who watched wildfires repeatedly destroy forests near their Lisbon homes, have built a six-legged robot that can plant trees on steep terrain too dangerous for humans or heavy machinery to reach. The AI-powered robot analyzes the soil before planting and hits an 85-90% sapling survival rate — a major win for a country where 54% of the territory has burned since 1980.

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 just got hit with a new lawsuit from Perrone Robotics, alleging it knowingly infringed on five patents tied to its Autopilot self-driving systems.

• Quantum Systems, the German drone maker, has hit a €3B valuation after picking up €180M in new funding, putting a potential IPO on the table.

• Elon Musk shared an AI-generated video imagining Optimus robots integrated into everyday life, highlighting Tesla’s vision for how far humanoids could go.

• Xiaomi has snagged former Tesla engineer Zach Lu Zeyu to lead development of its robot hand, accelerating its push into humanoid robotics and embodied AI.

• Flexion Robotics unveiled a new robotic “brain” that lets a humanoid navigate rough terrain and pick up litter on its own using vision and language models.

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ROBOT OF THE WEEK

A robot that caught our eye this week

Moley’s B AiR Kitchen can prep meals for up to 10 people using recipes developed by Michelin-starred chefs. Its space-saving design allows it to bring automated cooking to rooms of different sizes, potentially making personal robot chefs accessible to a much broader market than ever before.

You can check it out here or book a complimentary design meeting here.

ROBO REEL

Watch: China’s humanoid robot dodges an arrow with a side flip, nails spin kicks

We may have found a stunt double for Jackie Chan.

Chinese startup MagicLab just dropped a jaw-dropping demo of its MagicBot Z1 pulling off backflips, martial arts kicks with spins, and dodging arrows with side flips — the kind of parkour moves that could headline a Hollywood action feature. While the acrobatics are impressive, MagicLab is still catching up to industry leaders like UBTech, Figure AI, and Unitree, which are already running pilot programs in real factories.

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Zain and the Superhuman AI team