The latest in humanoid robotics news

Executives from Agility Robotics and Apptronik discuss the drivers, challenges, and future outlook for humanoid robots. Key topics include labor shortages, AI integration, safety standards, deployment hurdles in workplaces vs. homes, and the path toward commercialization in logistics, manufacturing, and potentially eldercare.

Chinese robotics company AgiBot partners with US-based embodied AI specialist Physical Intelligence (Pi), founded by prominent researchers like Sergey Levine and Chelsea Finn. AgiBot has hired Berkeley alum Dr. Luo Jianlan as Chief Scientist to lead a new research center focused on complex robot tasks. Initial collaboration shows a single AI policy controlling diverse tasks, demonstrated by a robot tying a scarf.

Sanctuary AI demonstrated its hydraulically actuated, five-fingered robotic hand performing in-hand object reorientation using a reinforcement learning policy trained in simulation. The company highlights the successful sim-to-real transfer, even under an unexpected 500g load, attributing the success to its proprietary RL approach and high-DoF hand hardware.

Agility Robotics, maker of the Digit humanoid robot, is reportedly closing a $400 million funding round led by WP Global. The investment aims to help the company scale production at its Oregon facility, targeting the logistics and warehouse market amidst growing competition in the humanoid robotics space.

China's Ubtech Robotics plans a major production increase, aiming to build 1,000 humanoid robots in 2025 (up from just 10 in 2024), split between industrial and other uses. This follows a 24% annual revenue increase to $180M, though the company remains unprofitable and humanoids are not yet a major revenue driver. The focus is on real-world deployment, particularly in manufacturing.