﻿<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0" xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" xmlns:googleplay="http://www.google.com/schemas/play-podcasts/1.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[OK, Robot]]></title><description><![CDATA[A Newsletter about the present and future of robotics, startups, applications and emerging technology. ]]></description><link>https://firstfuturist.substack.com</link><image><url>https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!opJP!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4f889377-e147-4d98-abb4-16acd781a1f9_489x489.png</url><title>OK, Robot</title><link>https://firstfuturist.substack.com</link></image><generator>Substack</generator><lastBuildDate>Sat, 20 Jun 2026 20:56:59 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://firstfuturist.substack.com/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><copyright><![CDATA[Michael Spencer]]></copyright><language><![CDATA[en]]></language><webMaster><![CDATA[thespaceacademy@substack.com]]></webMaster><itunes:owner><itunes:email><![CDATA[thespaceacademy@substack.com]]></itunes:email><itunes:name><![CDATA[Michael Spencer]]></itunes:name></itunes:owner><itunes:author><![CDATA[Michael Spencer]]></itunes:author><googleplay:owner><![CDATA[thespaceacademy@substack.com]]></googleplay:owner><googleplay:email><![CDATA[thespaceacademy@substack.com]]></googleplay:email><googleplay:author><![CDATA[Michael Spencer]]></googleplay:author><itunes:block><![CDATA[Yes]]></itunes:block><item><title><![CDATA[Figure AI values itself at $39 Billion]]></title><description><![CDATA[If you can't beat them, out fund them.]]></description><link>https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/figure-ai-values-itself-at-39-billion</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/figure-ai-values-itself-at-39-billion</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Spencer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 25 Sep 2025 10:15:40 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!6Ghh!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7c1449a6-f215-4536-aeef-b6bb52d33197_790x415.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>A week ago Figure AI got a huge Series C found but the valuation seemed well, a bit off. </p><div class="native-video-embed" data-component-name="VideoPlaceholder" data-attrs="{&quot;mediaUploadId&quot;:&quot;937741d8-a365-4d92-ab6b-5a9b711ae3bd&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:null}"></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.figure.ai/news/series-c&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Read the Promo&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.figure.ai/news/series-c"><span>Read the Promo</span></a></p><p>Figure AI is one of dozens of humanoid robotics startups, that shows a lot of potential but are still in the early phases of the company. Real customers are few to non-existent. </p><p>So far 2025 has been a great year for funding in Robotics. So is this the OpenAI of Robotics? The size of the private valuation looks very odd - in a world where suddenly Robotics startup funding has hit the highest point in years, boosted by another giant round for a developer of so-called &#8220;humanoids.&#8221;</p><p>Earlier this year, Figure CEO Brett Adcock claimed that Figure was the most &#8220;sought-after&#8221; stock on the private market. The former farm-boy is now an Emerging tech Founder of American clout. </p><blockquote><p>Figure AI said it plans to build out its <strong>Helix</strong> embodied intelligence platform and the BotQ high-volume production environment unveiled in March. The company plans to ship 100,000 humanoids over the next four years.</p></blockquote><p>The Series C round was led by Parkway Venture Capital, and also saw participation from industry majors such as Nvidia, Intel Capital, LG Technology Ventures, Salesforce, T-Mobile Ventures, and Qualcomm Ventures.</p><ul><li><p>Nvidia</p></li><li><p>Intel</p></li><li><p>Salesforce</p></li><li><p>Qualcomm </p></li></ul><p>This is noticeable semiconductor backing for the robotics hardware company. </p><p>The company tries to gain momentum by sharing viral videos of its robots folding laundry or emptying the dishwasher, even when it wasn&#8217;t supposed to be a consumer first humanoid. With China racing ahead, Figure and Tesla are making big promises. </p><p></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://x.com/Figure_robot/status/1963266237426979300&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Watch Video&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://x.com/Figure_robot/status/1963266237426979300"><span>Watch Video</span></a></p><p></p><p>The U.S. which is about a decade behind China in both automated manufacturing and energy systems, claims Figure, founded in 2022 by Archer founder <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/brettadcock/">Brett Adcock</a>, plans to use the Series C money to scale its artificial intelligence platform and manufacturing capabilities.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://firstfuturist.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://firstfuturist.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Amazon's Vulcan Robot ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Amazon's first robot with a sense of touch]]></description><link>https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/amazons-vulcan-robot</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/amazons-vulcan-robot</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Spencer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 18 May 2025 12:57:13 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!x86u!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffaa01403-8989-42ad-b1b1-58b95c9ce79f_700x525.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://www.ai-supremacy.com/subscribe" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!x86u!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffaa01403-8989-42ad-b1b1-58b95c9ce79f_700x525.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!x86u!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffaa01403-8989-42ad-b1b1-58b95c9ce79f_700x525.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!x86u!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffaa01403-8989-42ad-b1b1-58b95c9ce79f_700x525.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!x86u!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffaa01403-8989-42ad-b1b1-58b95c9ce79f_700x525.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!x86u!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffaa01403-8989-42ad-b1b1-58b95c9ce79f_700x525.png" width="700" height="525" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/faa01403-8989-42ad-b1b1-58b95c9ce79f_700x525.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:525,&quot;width&quot;:700,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;Amazon Sees Warehouse Robots Flattening Its Hiring Curve: Document -  Business Insider&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;https://www.ai-supremacy.com/subscribe&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="Amazon Sees Warehouse Robots Flattening Its Hiring Curve: Document -  Business Insider" title="Amazon Sees Warehouse Robots Flattening Its Hiring Curve: Document -  Business Insider" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!x86u!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffaa01403-8989-42ad-b1b1-58b95c9ce79f_700x525.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!x86u!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffaa01403-8989-42ad-b1b1-58b95c9ce79f_700x525.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!x86u!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffaa01403-8989-42ad-b1b1-58b95c9ce79f_700x525.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!x86u!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffaa01403-8989-42ad-b1b1-58b95c9ce79f_700x525.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Welcome Back! </p><p>What should we make of Amazon&#8217;s latest robot prototype? </p><p>Amazon says the robot arm is a breakthrough in the perception of touch. Amazon&#8217;s rhetoric around robots has always been a little weird, as they replace more tasks that warehouse workers do, they position them as being about saftey. Introduced at the "Delivering the Future" event in Do&#8230;</p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Xpeng's Huge Investment in Humanoid Robotics ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Up to $13.8 Billion investment? Hard to believe.]]></description><link>https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/xpengs-huge-investment-in-humanoid</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/xpengs-huge-investment-in-humanoid</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Spencer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 12 Mar 2025 11:31:58 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eTZ1!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9f0d9b10-280d-47c9-ba43-a092b11f1bb2_1376x738.webp" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!PpMp!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F70d68506-0f77-43dc-9200-117ce970a28e_600x274.gif" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!PpMp!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F70d68506-0f77-43dc-9200-117ce970a28e_600x274.gif 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!PpMp!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F70d68506-0f77-43dc-9200-117ce970a28e_600x274.gif 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!PpMp!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F70d68506-0f77-43dc-9200-117ce970a28e_600x274.gif 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!PpMp!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F70d68506-0f77-43dc-9200-117ce970a28e_600x274.gif 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!PpMp!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F70d68506-0f77-43dc-9200-117ce970a28e_600x274.gif" width="600" height="274" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/70d68506-0f77-43dc-9200-117ce970a28e_600x274.gif&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:274,&quot;width&quot;:600,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:1729787,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/gif&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://firstfuturist.substack.com/i/158905957?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F70d68506-0f77-43dc-9200-117ce970a28e_600x274.gif&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!PpMp!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F70d68506-0f77-43dc-9200-117ce970a28e_600x274.gif 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!PpMp!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F70d68506-0f77-43dc-9200-117ce970a28e_600x274.gif 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!PpMp!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F70d68506-0f77-43dc-9200-117ce970a28e_600x274.gif 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!PpMp!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F70d68506-0f77-43dc-9200-117ce970a28e_600x274.gif 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p></p><p>In China there are many futuristic EV makers with bold ideas about innovation and the future of hardware. Alibaba backed Xpeng has the distinction of making prototypes of both flying cars and humanoid robots. In fact, we might want to pay attention, Xpeng&#8217;s chairman recently said it plans to start mass production of its flying car model and <strong>industrial robots by 2026</strong>.</p><p>This is also part of the Alibaba stock story, because Alibaba owns a significant 7.5% stake in XPeng Inc. Xpeng is reportedly set to invest <strong>up to $13.8 billion</strong> (100 billion yuan) on humanoid robots to rival companies like Tesla and others. </p><p>Xpeng Robotics has recently made significant strides in developing its humanoid robot, <a href="https://pandaily.com/xpeng-iron-l3-humanoid-robot-will-be-mass-produced-next-year/">named Iron</a>. Unveiled at the company's AI Day event, Iron stands 1.72 meters tall and weighs about 70 kg. The robot is designed with 60 joints that provide it with impressive movement capabilities, mimicking human actions with a range of 200 degrees of motion in its joints. </p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://firstfuturist.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://firstfuturist.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Is Mark Zuckerberg a Robot?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Meta and Apple enter humanoid robotics.]]></description><link>https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/is-mark-zuckerberg-a-robot</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/is-mark-zuckerberg-a-robot</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Spencer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 18 Feb 2025 08:29:58 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4YKh!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda6ba400-dbde-4af7-95b7-6510ee57abca_2000x1125.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4YKh!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda6ba400-dbde-4af7-95b7-6510ee57abca_2000x1125.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4YKh!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda6ba400-dbde-4af7-95b7-6510ee57abca_2000x1125.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4YKh!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda6ba400-dbde-4af7-95b7-6510ee57abca_2000x1125.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4YKh!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda6ba400-dbde-4af7-95b7-6510ee57abca_2000x1125.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4YKh!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda6ba400-dbde-4af7-95b7-6510ee57abca_2000x1125.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4YKh!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda6ba400-dbde-4af7-95b7-6510ee57abca_2000x1125.jpeg" width="1456" height="819" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/da6ba400-dbde-4af7-95b7-6510ee57abca_2000x1125.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:819,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4YKh!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda6ba400-dbde-4af7-95b7-6510ee57abca_2000x1125.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4YKh!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda6ba400-dbde-4af7-95b7-6510ee57abca_2000x1125.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4YKh!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda6ba400-dbde-4af7-95b7-6510ee57abca_2000x1125.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4YKh!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda6ba400-dbde-4af7-95b7-6510ee57abca_2000x1125.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Credit: A Tesla Optimus robot, also known as the Tesla Bot, at the Paris Motor Show. (Nathan Laine). </figcaption></figure></div><p>Can someone tell Mark Zuckerberg to get serious? I need to rant about about this. </p><p>After spending over $100 billion on VR/AR pursuits, Mark Zuckerberg, the cold faced CEO of Facebook, now called Meta, thinks he&#8217;s good at AI and hardware. </p><p>Congrats Mark, you managed to <a href="https://www.theverge.com/news/613292/meta-ray-ban-2-million-10-million-capacity-subscription-essilor-luxottica-earnings">sell 2 million pairs of Ray-Bans</a>. You managed to push Llama models into the world and stimulate the Chinese in Open-source, that&#8217;s quite an achievement! Thanks for those models &#129433;. </p><p>Your MMA and Hawaii brand pivot has <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/02/29/mark-zuckerberg-robot-brand-senate-posts">gone from robotic to authentic</a>, so I was not terribly surprised that you think you can contribute to the software &amp; AI behind consumer and humanoid robots! Nevermind all your failures in hardware historically, someone at Meta thinks this is a good idea? Or is it just you again.  </p><blockquote><h3>Meta wants to make the AI, sensors, and software for humanoid robots, according to Bloomberg.</h3></blockquote><p>A subscription service for Ray-Bans sire, and would you like a robot with that? We found out last week that weirdly enough Facebook parent Meta is entering the competitive field of humanoid robotics, joining rivals such as Nvidia-backed Figure AI. </p><p>Perhaps Trump told the Tech Moguls that humanoid robots should be <strong>made in America too?</strong> Nevermind Mark&#8217;s immature behavior. What does becoming a tech tycoon do to your ethics, ask Mark Zuckerberg or Sam Altman. Is BigTech going to get serious about humanoid robots? </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A4Nw!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F35a15fe8-0d22-4285-a7f4-3eb8c97b9e0c_640x427.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A4Nw!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F35a15fe8-0d22-4285-a7f4-3eb8c97b9e0c_640x427.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A4Nw!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F35a15fe8-0d22-4285-a7f4-3eb8c97b9e0c_640x427.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A4Nw!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F35a15fe8-0d22-4285-a7f4-3eb8c97b9e0c_640x427.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A4Nw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F35a15fe8-0d22-4285-a7f4-3eb8c97b9e0c_640x427.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A4Nw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F35a15fe8-0d22-4285-a7f4-3eb8c97b9e0c_640x427.jpeg" width="640" height="427" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/35a15fe8-0d22-4285-a7f4-3eb8c97b9e0c_640x427.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:427,&quot;width&quot;:640,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;Tech titans Zuckerberg, Bezos, Cook, Pichai chose to band together ahead of  Trump inauguration: 'Playing this game'&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="Tech titans Zuckerberg, Bezos, Cook, Pichai chose to band together ahead of  Trump inauguration: 'Playing this game'" title="Tech titans Zuckerberg, Bezos, Cook, Pichai chose to band together ahead of  Trump inauguration: 'Playing this game'" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A4Nw!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F35a15fe8-0d22-4285-a7f4-3eb8c97b9e0c_640x427.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A4Nw!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F35a15fe8-0d22-4285-a7f4-3eb8c97b9e0c_640x427.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A4Nw!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F35a15fe8-0d22-4285-a7f4-3eb8c97b9e0c_640x427.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A4Nw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F35a15fe8-0d22-4285-a7f4-3eb8c97b9e0c_640x427.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/12/apple-is-reportedly-exploring-humanoid-robots/">Apple is exploring Humanoid</a> robots too. Apple&#8217;s failure to finish its smart car was quite a spectacle of how it might not be the same company it once was. </p><p>Meta is reportedly working on a pair of glasses with a display for later in 2025, but robots? Meta basically wants to be the &#8220;engine behind&#8221; powering humanoid general purpose robots. Currently that&#8217;s a bit what <strong>Nvidia is doing</strong>. Since when can Meta compete with Nvidia, in anything? </p><p>The company (Meta) plans to allocate around $65 billion this year to various related developments, including artificial intelligence infrastructure and robotics initiatives, AI Infrastructure and open-source models, I get, well sort of. Until Llama can no longer keep up with China in open-weight model iteration, which is likely about to happen later in 2025 itself. </p><h3>Zuck&#8217;s Hawaii Bunker Needs Robots to do the Laundry </h3><p>Meta plans to work on its own humanoid robot hardware, with an initial focus on <strong>household chores</strong>. Its bigger ambition is to make the underlying AI, sensors and software for robots that will be manufactured and sold by a range of companies, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the initiative hasn&#8217;t been announced.</p><p>Tech bro, did you say <strong>folding laundry</strong>? Because that&#8217;s like, what everyone wants from these devices as expensive as cars for, somehow? A lot of actual human productivity and work-life balances comes down to chores. </p><p>Kuo projects 2028 as an optimistic timeline for mass production of Apple&#8217;s humanoids, but after Project Titan, who even knowns with Apple&#8217;s technological capabilities any longer? Apple worked on Project Titan for approximately a decade, starting in 2014 and officially canceling the project in early 2024. Facebook&#8217;s many failures in devices and hardware is a long list of wasted money on projects. </p><p>Sources tell the outlet that a newly formed team within Meta&#8217;s Reality Labs division will start by working on &#8220;humanoid robot hardware&#8221; capable of completing household chores. That sounds about as probable as OpenAI building their own humanoids. OpenAI needed the help of Broadcom among others (like Marvell) just to build an AI chip for interference. '</p><h3>Meta&#8217;s Wild R&amp;D Moonshots </h3>
      <p>
          <a href="https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/is-mark-zuckerberg-a-robot">
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The AI-Robot Race is going to be Next Level ]]></title><description><![CDATA[We are in for a sci-fi treat, or something fairly different. &#129302;]]></description><link>https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/the-ai-robot-race-is-going-to-be</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/the-ai-robot-race-is-going-to-be</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Spencer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 14 Feb 2025 12:21:03 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DJTg!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea6f0bc4-0e4a-4795-b2ef-539d4118b9ab_2000x1000.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DJTg!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea6f0bc4-0e4a-4795-b2ef-539d4118b9ab_2000x1000.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DJTg!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea6f0bc4-0e4a-4795-b2ef-539d4118b9ab_2000x1000.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DJTg!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea6f0bc4-0e4a-4795-b2ef-539d4118b9ab_2000x1000.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DJTg!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea6f0bc4-0e4a-4795-b2ef-539d4118b9ab_2000x1000.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DJTg!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea6f0bc4-0e4a-4795-b2ef-539d4118b9ab_2000x1000.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DJTg!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea6f0bc4-0e4a-4795-b2ef-539d4118b9ab_2000x1000.jpeg" width="1456" height="728" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ea6f0bc4-0e4a-4795-b2ef-539d4118b9ab_2000x1000.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:728,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;An Apple Robot is less likely to happen than an Apple Car - 9to5Mac&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="An Apple Robot is less likely to happen than an Apple Car - 9to5Mac" title="An Apple Robot is less likely to happen than an Apple Car - 9to5Mac" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DJTg!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea6f0bc4-0e4a-4795-b2ef-539d4118b9ab_2000x1000.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DJTg!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea6f0bc4-0e4a-4795-b2ef-539d4118b9ab_2000x1000.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DJTg!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea6f0bc4-0e4a-4795-b2ef-539d4118b9ab_2000x1000.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DJTg!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea6f0bc4-0e4a-4795-b2ef-539d4118b9ab_2000x1000.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Good Morning, </p><blockquote><h3>According to Goldman Sachs, the humanoid robotics market could be worth $38 billion by 2035. </h3></blockquote><p>So a lot is going on in Robotics and the emergence of physical AI. It&#8217;s going to be a major boom and lead to the mass production of humanoid robotics and drones (due to national security concerns). </p><p>&#127936; Some entertaining things as well: </p><blockquote><p>&#8220;We RL'ed hum&#8230;</p></blockquote>
      <p>
          <a href="https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/the-ai-robot-race-is-going-to-be">
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Nvidia World Model Cosmos Key to Robotics Progress 2015-2020]]></title><description><![CDATA[Cosmos and Genesis shine a light on the future of robots. Why this matters.]]></description><link>https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/nvidia-world-model-cosmos-key-to</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/nvidia-world-model-cosmos-key-to</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Spencer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 09 Jan 2025 15:59:40 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!6YCn!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4c60588d-9200-4c5f-b0fd-5e0781c008eb_1200x675.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!6YCn!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4c60588d-9200-4c5f-b0fd-5e0781c008eb_1200x675.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!6YCn!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4c60588d-9200-4c5f-b0fd-5e0781c008eb_1200x675.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!6YCn!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4c60588d-9200-4c5f-b0fd-5e0781c008eb_1200x675.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!6YCn!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4c60588d-9200-4c5f-b0fd-5e0781c008eb_1200x675.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!6YCn!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4c60588d-9200-4c5f-b0fd-5e0781c008eb_1200x675.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!6YCn!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4c60588d-9200-4c5f-b0fd-5e0781c008eb_1200x675.png" width="1200" height="675" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/4c60588d-9200-4c5f-b0fd-5e0781c008eb_1200x675.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:675,&quot;width&quot;:1200,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;Nvidia Unveils Cosmos AI Platform&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="Nvidia Unveils Cosmos AI Platform" title="Nvidia Unveils Cosmos AI Platform" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!6YCn!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4c60588d-9200-4c5f-b0fd-5e0781c008eb_1200x675.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!6YCn!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4c60588d-9200-4c5f-b0fd-5e0781c008eb_1200x675.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!6YCn!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4c60588d-9200-4c5f-b0fd-5e0781c008eb_1200x675.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!6YCn!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4c60588d-9200-4c5f-b0fd-5e0781c008eb_1200x675.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Hey Everyone, </p><p>There&#8217;s been two key LLM and software developments that are looking to have potential to change the trajectory of robotics and robotics training on synthetic data. </p><ol><li><p>Nvidia <a href="https://github.com/NVIDIA/Cosmos">Cosmos </a></p></li><li><p>Open-source <a href="https://github.com/Genesis-Embodied-AI/Genesis">Genesis</a> </p></li></ol><p>NVIDIA&#8217;s keynote presentation placed a strong emphasis on robotics, marking a significant advancement for humanoid robots as they move closer to commercial applications and integration into daily life.</p><div id="youtube2-XASnBeNKg6A" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;XASnBeNKg6A&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/XASnBeNKg6A?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><ul><li><p>Here is a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjO9GPh_vJI">12-min version</a> from CNET summarizing the main points. </p></li></ul><p></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://firstfuturist.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://firstfuturist.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p>
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          <a href="https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/nvidia-world-model-cosmos-key-to">
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[NEO by 1X Technologies | Your Intelligent Android Assistant]]></title><description><![CDATA[So many "humanoids", will these robots be the new normal?]]></description><link>https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/neo-by-1x-technologies-your-intelligent</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/neo-by-1x-technologies-your-intelligent</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Spencer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 06 Sep 2024 09:59:59 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zqi_!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff4f686d2-484f-4aa7-ab02-cf869823b708_770x500.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zqi_!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff4f686d2-484f-4aa7-ab02-cf869823b708_770x500.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zqi_!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff4f686d2-484f-4aa7-ab02-cf869823b708_770x500.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zqi_!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff4f686d2-484f-4aa7-ab02-cf869823b708_770x500.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zqi_!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff4f686d2-484f-4aa7-ab02-cf869823b708_770x500.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zqi_!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff4f686d2-484f-4aa7-ab02-cf869823b708_770x500.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zqi_!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff4f686d2-484f-4aa7-ab02-cf869823b708_770x500.jpeg" width="770" height="500" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/f4f686d2-484f-4aa7-ab02-cf869823b708_770x500.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:500,&quot;width&quot;:770,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:116624,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zqi_!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff4f686d2-484f-4aa7-ab02-cf869823b708_770x500.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zqi_!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff4f686d2-484f-4aa7-ab02-cf869823b708_770x500.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zqi_!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff4f686d2-484f-4aa7-ab02-cf869823b708_770x500.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zqi_!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff4f686d2-484f-4aa7-ab02-cf869823b708_770x500.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p></p><p>Hey Everyone,</p><p>At <a href="https://firstfuturist.substack.com/">OK Robot</a> we are still trying to catch up with the frantic pace of robotics news we&#8217;ve seen this summer. A similar Newsletter is <a href="https://robotsandstartups.substack.com/">Robots &amp; Startups</a> you can check out. </p><p>In the Summer of 2024, there's been a flurry of new robot prototype reveals, especially when it comes to "humanoids" that aim ultimately to be general purpose humanoid robots&#8230;</p>
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          <a href="https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/neo-by-1x-technologies-your-intelligent">
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[China's Humanoid Robot Strategy looks like a Major rival to American startups ]]></title><description><![CDATA[What can we learn from the World Robot Conference in China?]]></description><link>https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/chinas-humanoid-robot-strategy-looks</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/chinas-humanoid-robot-strategy-looks</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Spencer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 04 Sep 2024 08:29:16 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!d4nx!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F93df0cb3-7fbf-4bd6-88cb-04f8eb71c8a1_1000x539.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hey Everyone,</p><p>I hope you had a good summer, this Newsletter will be slowly getting back to normal frequency and we have a lot of robot news to catch up on. The summer was fairly busy! </p><p>Given the relative dominance of EV markers out of China, China certainly seems to have an edge in robotics as well. The <a href="https://www.worldrobotconference.com/en/">World Robot Conference</a> that began Wednesday in Beiji&#8230;</p>
      <p>
          <a href="https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/chinas-humanoid-robot-strategy-looks">
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          </a>
      </p>
   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[OpenAI and its Robotics Team ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Will OpenAI acquire Figure, or do anything significant for the future or robots?]]></description><link>https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/openai-and-its-robotics-team</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/openai-and-its-robotics-team</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Spencer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 04 Jun 2024 11:55:52 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4vmk!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fce0b1220-d6eb-4dfc-8e3d-b1182529fa05_770x500.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4vmk!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fce0b1220-d6eb-4dfc-8e3d-b1182529fa05_770x500.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4vmk!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fce0b1220-d6eb-4dfc-8e3d-b1182529fa05_770x500.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4vmk!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fce0b1220-d6eb-4dfc-8e3d-b1182529fa05_770x500.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4vmk!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fce0b1220-d6eb-4dfc-8e3d-b1182529fa05_770x500.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4vmk!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fce0b1220-d6eb-4dfc-8e3d-b1182529fa05_770x500.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4vmk!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fce0b1220-d6eb-4dfc-8e3d-b1182529fa05_770x500.jpeg" width="770" height="500" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ce0b1220-d6eb-4dfc-8e3d-b1182529fa05_770x500.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:500,&quot;width&quot;:770,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;series of images of a robot hand holding a rubics cube.&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="series of images of a robot hand holding a rubics cube." title="series of images of a robot hand holding a rubics cube." srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4vmk!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fce0b1220-d6eb-4dfc-8e3d-b1182529fa05_770x500.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4vmk!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fce0b1220-d6eb-4dfc-8e3d-b1182529fa05_770x500.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4vmk!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fce0b1220-d6eb-4dfc-8e3d-b1182529fa05_770x500.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4vmk!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fce0b1220-d6eb-4dfc-8e3d-b1182529fa05_770x500.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Hello Everyone, </p><p>We know that OpenAI is working with Figure AI to help their humanoid general purpose robots become more capable and easy to communicate with. But OpenAI is also hiring robotics talent and <a href="https://openai.com/careers/research-engineer-robotics/">research engineers. </a></p><p>Everyone from Nvidia to Amazon are getting even more into robotics. When<a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/robotics-startup-figure-raises-675-mln-microsoft-nvidia-other-big-techs-2024-02-29/"> Figure AI got money from</a> Microsoft, Nvidia and OpenAI, it felt like one of those Sam Altman conflicts of interest, yet again. </p><p>Meanwhile, Amazon has done major pilots with robotics startups many of which continue to this day. So OpenAI has been thinking about the intersection of Generative AI and robotics, at least<a href="https://openai.com/index/robots-that-learn/"> since 2017, that&#8217;s seven years ago</a>! OpenAI whose CEO wants to get into everything from AI chips to the Nuclear fusion behind the AI datacenters of the future. </p><p>Sam Altman has roughly $2.8 Billion in investments, in <a href="https://qz.com/openai-ceo-sam-altman-investments-2-8-billion-reddit-st-1851515945">over 400 companies, many of whom do business with OpenAI</a>. It&#8217;s not exactly a great business situation for conflict of interest for OpenAI. Sam brings a whole new meaning to Venture Capitalists pulling the strings, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/openai-sam-altman-investments-004fc785">according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal</a>.</p><p>But can OpenAI actually do great work with robots and AI? </p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://firstfuturist.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://firstfuturist.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>In the race for AI supremacy, humanoid general purpose robots that are smart and can communicate with also be part of the race between the U.S. and China. </p>
      <p>
          <a href="https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/openai-and-its-robotics-team">
              Read more
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Optimus Video Update May 5th ]]></title><description><![CDATA[How do you judge a robot that trains on teleoperation?]]></description><link>https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/optimus-video-update-may-5th</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/optimus-video-update-may-5th</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Spencer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 05 May 2024 17:58:31 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o0wa!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9cfe5050-0f1f-410c-9ba3-a7c997b689b3_1280x720.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o0wa!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9cfe5050-0f1f-410c-9ba3-a7c997b689b3_1280x720.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o0wa!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9cfe5050-0f1f-410c-9ba3-a7c997b689b3_1280x720.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o0wa!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9cfe5050-0f1f-410c-9ba3-a7c997b689b3_1280x720.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o0wa!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9cfe5050-0f1f-410c-9ba3-a7c997b689b3_1280x720.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o0wa!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9cfe5050-0f1f-410c-9ba3-a7c997b689b3_1280x720.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o0wa!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9cfe5050-0f1f-410c-9ba3-a7c997b689b3_1280x720.jpeg" width="1280" height="720" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/9cfe5050-0f1f-410c-9ba3-a7c997b689b3_1280x720.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;The next generation of Tesla's humanoid robot makes its debut - CyberGuy&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="The next generation of Tesla's humanoid robot makes its debut - CyberGuy" title="The next generation of Tesla's humanoid robot makes its debut - CyberGuy" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o0wa!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9cfe5050-0f1f-410c-9ba3-a7c997b689b3_1280x720.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o0wa!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9cfe5050-0f1f-410c-9ba3-a7c997b689b3_1280x720.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o0wa!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9cfe5050-0f1f-410c-9ba3-a7c997b689b3_1280x720.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o0wa!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9cfe5050-0f1f-410c-9ba3-a7c997b689b3_1280x720.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Hello Everyone, </p><p>Tesla&#8217;s Optimus has been in the news a bit with a recent update video by Tesla. Here it is: </p><div class="native-video-embed" data-component-name="VideoPlaceholder" data-attrs="{&quot;mediaUploadId&quot;:&quot;10053e43-18df-40a3-8bde-f3b49b606750&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:null}"></div><p>One of the most important Robotics evangelists Jim Fan said this on LinkedIn: </p><p>He covers: </p><ul><li><p>5-Finger Dexterity </p></li><li><p>Teleoperation Software (i.e. human operators wearing VR gear) </p></li><li><p>Fleet &amp; Tasks</p></li><li><p>How to collective training data at scale </p></li></ul><blockquote><p>The latest Tesla Optimus video gives us a peek at their human data collection farm, which I believe is Optimus' biggest lead. What does it take to build such a pipeline? Optimus nailed all of the following:<br><br>1. Optimus hands are among the best 5-finger, dexterous robot hands in the world. It's got tactile sensing, 11 degrees of freedom (DOF) compared to many competitors with only 6-7 DOF, and robustness to withstand lots of object interactions without constant maintenance.<br><br>2. Teleoperation software: we can see that the human operators are wearing VR goggles and gloves. It is very non-trivial to set up the software to have first-person video streamed in and precise control streamed out, while maintaining extremely low latency. Humans are highly sensitive to even the smallest delay between their own motions and the robot's. Optimus has a fluid whole body controller that enacts the human poses in real-time. <br><br>3. Sizeable fleet: you need more than one robot to collect data in parallel, well-trained human contractors taking multiple shifts per day (preferably 24/7), and an on-call maintenance crew to make sure that the robots are always busy. That's a ton of operational complexity that academic research labs don't even think of. <br><br>4. Tasks &amp; environments: it's equally important to figure out *what* to teleoperate. Currently, most such efforts are demo-driven: collect data on the tasks that you want to put into a social media video. But solving general-purpose robots requires us to think carefully about the distribution of tasks and environments. From 43"-51" in the video, we can see factory &amp; household settings like moving batteries, handling laundry, sorting daily objects into shelves. <br><br>It's an open-ended research question: if you only have the budget to collect training data for 1,000 tasks, what would you pick to maximize skill transfer and generalization? <br><br>Closing thought: teleoperation is a necessary but insufficient condition to solve humanoid robotics. It fundamentally does not scale.</p></blockquote><p>In a post made on the Optimus X account on Sunday, the humanoid robot is seen using its end-to-end neural network to perform basic factory tasks, including sorting 4680 battery cells. The video highlights the robot&#8217;s ability to do so autonomously, even fixing its own mistakes as it goes along. Though most assume the robot was not operating independently but was also just featuring this teleoperation. </p><p>Musk has been hyping up Optimus recently, pledging that Tesla would eventually deliver an amazing new robot that people would buy in stores. It&#8217;s not clear if or when this will actually happen as all of a sudden Tesla has many worthy competitors including some in China. </p><p>While Optimus has tried to evolve, they now have stiff competition even in 2024. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OfWg!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F243cc8aa-c114-49b5-9b9a-3eed49956e70_4096x2048.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OfWg!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F243cc8aa-c114-49b5-9b9a-3eed49956e70_4096x2048.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OfWg!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F243cc8aa-c114-49b5-9b9a-3eed49956e70_4096x2048.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OfWg!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F243cc8aa-c114-49b5-9b9a-3eed49956e70_4096x2048.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OfWg!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F243cc8aa-c114-49b5-9b9a-3eed49956e70_4096x2048.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OfWg!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F243cc8aa-c114-49b5-9b9a-3eed49956e70_4096x2048.jpeg" width="1456" height="728" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/243cc8aa-c114-49b5-9b9a-3eed49956e70_4096x2048.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:728,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;Image&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="Image" title="Image" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OfWg!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F243cc8aa-c114-49b5-9b9a-3eed49956e70_4096x2048.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OfWg!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F243cc8aa-c114-49b5-9b9a-3eed49956e70_4096x2048.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OfWg!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F243cc8aa-c114-49b5-9b9a-3eed49956e70_4096x2048.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OfWg!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F243cc8aa-c114-49b5-9b9a-3eed49956e70_4096x2048.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><h3>Internet Mocking Tesla Demos </h3><blockquote><p>The technique here is called &#8220;teleoperation,&#8221; and has been used in robotics since the 1940s. Essentially someone moves their own hand and the robot mimics the movement. It&#8217;s cool for mid-20th-century tech, but it&#8217;s not the kind of autonomous robot movements that people here in the 21st century expect for cutting-edge and futuristic products. See the video people are making fun of <a href="https://gizmodo.com/robot-legit-elon-musk-fake-optimus-tesla-demo-astribot-1851455513">here</a>. </p></blockquote><p>It&#8217;s gotten so bad, Robot companies are now including notices when they post new demo videos that make it clear the machine is operating autonomously.</p><h3>Chinese robot maker Astribot</h3><div id="youtube2-AePEcHIIk9s" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;AePEcHIIk9s&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/AePEcHIIk9s?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p>How can you verify if any of these videos are entirely real and how they were doctored though? It&#8217;s not clear. </p><h3>Optimus Training to do Practical Tasks </h3><ul><li><p>Using end-to-end neural networks to sort battery cells, with the system autonomously recovering from any failures. </p></li><li><p>Optimus is currently being trained at one of Tesla&#8217;s factories, with fewer human interventions over time, and is now taking longer walks around the office. </p></li><li><p>It runs in real time on the bot's FSD computer, using only 2D cameras, along with hand tactile and force sensors. </p></li><li><p>The training data comes from human teleoperation and is scaled across the fleet to perform different tasks.</p></li></ul><p>Again, it&#8217;s not sure if any of this is scalable. </p><h3>Robot Meme of the Week</h3><div class="pullquote"><p>&#8220;The smarter we make AI, the less it wants to do our jobs&#8221;</p></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Nf0Y!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F53e8c048-157f-47d7-b6ca-eb6c509f32b9_750x667.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Nf0Y!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F53e8c048-157f-47d7-b6ca-eb6c509f32b9_750x667.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Nf0Y!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F53e8c048-157f-47d7-b6ca-eb6c509f32b9_750x667.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Nf0Y!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F53e8c048-157f-47d7-b6ca-eb6c509f32b9_750x667.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Nf0Y!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F53e8c048-157f-47d7-b6ca-eb6c509f32b9_750x667.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Nf0Y!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F53e8c048-157f-47d7-b6ca-eb6c509f32b9_750x667.jpeg" width="750" height="667" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/53e8c048-157f-47d7-b6ca-eb6c509f32b9_750x667.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:667,&quot;width&quot;:750,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;Image&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="Image" title="Image" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Nf0Y!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F53e8c048-157f-47d7-b6ca-eb6c509f32b9_750x667.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Nf0Y!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F53e8c048-157f-47d7-b6ca-eb6c509f32b9_750x667.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Nf0Y!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F53e8c048-157f-47d7-b6ca-eb6c509f32b9_750x667.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Nf0Y!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F53e8c048-157f-47d7-b6ca-eb6c509f32b9_750x667.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><ul><li><p>Optimus Gen 2 is the second generation of Tesla&#8217;s humanoid robot. It is designed to be a general-purpose machine that can assist humans in various domains, such as manufacturing, construction, healthcare, and entertainment.</p></li><li><p>Tesla said in December, 2023 that its new prototype is 30% faster, 10 kg lighter, and has sensors on all fingers.</p></li><li><p>It's best to take Tesla's claims with a grain of salt until they are independently verified in practical, real-world demonstrations. Elon has a lot riding on his promises about Robotaxis and Optimus being things millions of consumers will use soon, which is far from a certainty. </p></li></ul><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://firstfuturist.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://firstfuturist.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Robotics Startups Might Increase Dramatically in the late 2020s]]></title><description><![CDATA[Collaborative Robotics is prioritizing &#8216;human problem solving&#8217; over humanoid forms]]></description><link>https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/robotics-startups-might-increase</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/robotics-startups-might-increase</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Spencer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 23 Apr 2024 10:56:48 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LB_2!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7240f77c-1cf0-40fa-8c29-baafbfb06196_866x492.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LB_2!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7240f77c-1cf0-40fa-8c29-baafbfb06196_866x492.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LB_2!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7240f77c-1cf0-40fa-8c29-baafbfb06196_866x492.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LB_2!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7240f77c-1cf0-40fa-8c29-baafbfb06196_866x492.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LB_2!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7240f77c-1cf0-40fa-8c29-baafbfb06196_866x492.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LB_2!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7240f77c-1cf0-40fa-8c29-baafbfb06196_866x492.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LB_2!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7240f77c-1cf0-40fa-8c29-baafbfb06196_866x492.png" width="866" height="492" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/7240f77c-1cf0-40fa-8c29-baafbfb06196_866x492.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:492,&quot;width&quot;:866,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LB_2!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7240f77c-1cf0-40fa-8c29-baafbfb06196_866x492.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LB_2!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7240f77c-1cf0-40fa-8c29-baafbfb06196_866x492.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LB_2!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7240f77c-1cf0-40fa-8c29-baafbfb06196_866x492.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LB_2!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7240f77c-1cf0-40fa-8c29-baafbfb06196_866x492.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Hello Everyone, </p><p>Given advances in robotics and Generative AI, I believe a new wave of robotics startups and funding for advanced robotics is near. </p><p>There is one recent event here that&#8217;s worthy of mentioning and I&#8217;d like to break it down a bit. We are seeing a wider range of hardware and software approaches to this &#8220;Robot Renaissance&#8221; that is likely coming in the years ahead. </p><p>Here I am referring to <a href="https://www.co.bot/">Collaborative Robotics</a>. The way <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/co-bot/">robots collaborate </a>in the future is going to be a little bit different. This major new funding occured on April 15th, 2024. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mn26!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fddf4882b-9ad5-4536-8c68-05282cf11cc6_730x492.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mn26!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fddf4882b-9ad5-4536-8c68-05282cf11cc6_730x492.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mn26!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fddf4882b-9ad5-4536-8c68-05282cf11cc6_730x492.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mn26!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fddf4882b-9ad5-4536-8c68-05282cf11cc6_730x492.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mn26!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fddf4882b-9ad5-4536-8c68-05282cf11cc6_730x492.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mn26!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fddf4882b-9ad5-4536-8c68-05282cf11cc6_730x492.jpeg" width="730" height="492" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ddf4882b-9ad5-4536-8c68-05282cf11cc6_730x492.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:492,&quot;width&quot;:730,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;Collaborative robotics team&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="Collaborative robotics team" title="Collaborative robotics team" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mn26!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fddf4882b-9ad5-4536-8c68-05282cf11cc6_730x492.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mn26!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fddf4882b-9ad5-4536-8c68-05282cf11cc6_730x492.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mn26!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fddf4882b-9ad5-4536-8c68-05282cf11cc6_730x492.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mn26!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fddf4882b-9ad5-4536-8c68-05282cf11cc6_730x492.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><a href="https://www.generalcatalyst.com/perspectives/our-investment-in-collaborative-robotics">General Catalyst</a> is super involved. The Series B is quite large. The $100 million Series B, led by General Catalyst and featuring Bison Ventures, Industry Ventures and Lux Capital. That brings the Bay Area firm&#8217;s total funding up to $140 million. General Catalyst&#8217;s Teresa Carlson is also joining the company in an advisory role.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.generalcatalyst.com/perspectives/our-investment-in-collaborative-robotics&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Read blog&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.generalcatalyst.com/perspectives/our-investment-in-collaborative-robotics"><span>Read blog</span></a></p><h3>&#8220;Enabling Pragmatic, Trustworthy Automation&#8221;</h3><p></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://firstfuturist.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://firstfuturist.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p>
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          </a>
      </p>
   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[New Atlas and Israeli Robot ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Boston Dynamics has gone for an electric robot.]]></description><link>https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/new-atlas-and-israeli-robot</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/new-atlas-and-israeli-robot</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Spencer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 18 Apr 2024 06:29:31 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4O8f!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F08c46a00-fe3a-42a8-b5d1-405964e8f571_730x593.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4O8f!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F08c46a00-fe3a-42a8-b5d1-405964e8f571_730x593.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4O8f!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F08c46a00-fe3a-42a8-b5d1-405964e8f571_730x593.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4O8f!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F08c46a00-fe3a-42a8-b5d1-405964e8f571_730x593.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4O8f!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F08c46a00-fe3a-42a8-b5d1-405964e8f571_730x593.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4O8f!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F08c46a00-fe3a-42a8-b5d1-405964e8f571_730x593.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4O8f!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F08c46a00-fe3a-42a8-b5d1-405964e8f571_730x593.jpeg" width="730" height="593" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/08c46a00-fe3a-42a8-b5d1-405964e8f571_730x593.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:593,&quot;width&quot;:730,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;IMG_0955&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="IMG_0955" title="IMG_0955" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4O8f!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F08c46a00-fe3a-42a8-b5d1-405964e8f571_730x593.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4O8f!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F08c46a00-fe3a-42a8-b5d1-405964e8f571_730x593.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4O8f!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F08c46a00-fe3a-42a8-b5d1-405964e8f571_730x593.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4O8f!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F08c46a00-fe3a-42a8-b5d1-405964e8f571_730x593.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Hello Everyone, </p><p>This week two things have caught my attention, work of Mentee Robotics and the new Atlas prototype from Boston Dynamics, that robotics company that has been based around a lot and used to be owned by Google. </p><p>Mentee comes from Israel and the Mobileye founder, an incredible AV startup that was acquired by Intel and then spun out. Mobileye is easily one of my favorite companies. But wait there&#8217;s more connections, its co-founder and chair, Amnon Shashua, founded Mobileye and the well-funded AI firm, AI21 Labs. I&#8217;ve covered AI21 Labs several times in my Newsletter and even did a Native Sponsor for them. </p><div id="youtube2-Z3T9S1Arbdk" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;Z3T9S1Arbdk&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Z3T9S1Arbdk?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!zNkg!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9c4f9956-4051-4500-aef9-f97da039affc_770x500.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!zNkg!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9c4f9956-4051-4500-aef9-f97da039affc_770x500.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!zNkg!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9c4f9956-4051-4500-aef9-f97da039affc_770x500.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!zNkg!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9c4f9956-4051-4500-aef9-f97da039affc_770x500.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!zNkg!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9c4f9956-4051-4500-aef9-f97da039affc_770x500.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!zNkg!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9c4f9956-4051-4500-aef9-f97da039affc_770x500.jpeg" width="770" height="500" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/9c4f9956-4051-4500-aef9-f97da039affc_770x500.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:500,&quot;width&quot;:770,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;group shot of the mentee robotics cofounders. &quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="group shot of the mentee robotics cofounders. " title="group shot of the mentee robotics cofounders. " srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!zNkg!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9c4f9956-4051-4500-aef9-f97da039affc_770x500.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!zNkg!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9c4f9956-4051-4500-aef9-f97da039affc_770x500.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!zNkg!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9c4f9956-4051-4500-aef9-f97da039affc_770x500.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!zNkg!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9c4f9956-4051-4500-aef9-f97da039affc_770x500.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Let&#8217;s circle back to Mentee later, I want to show you the weird design and form factor of the New Atlas. </p><p>Atlas just went electric. And I like how it moves. </p><div class="native-video-embed" data-component-name="VideoPlaceholder" data-attrs="{&quot;mediaUploadId&quot;:&quot;67c1642d-0f6e-4d97-a7c3-50e92469d313&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:null}"></div><p>Boston Dynamics have taken all that they learned over 15 years of research in hydraulic Atlas platform and put it into the next generation of the program, a fully electric Atlas robot designed for real-world applications with super-human performance.</p><p>It looks like an industrial humanoid general purpose robot alright, just what I was hoping from Boston Dynamics. This is a company that was founded way back in 1992, ancient compared to some of the flashy new robotics companies getting huge funding today like Figure or Agility. </p><h3>Electric Atlas Design </h3><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0tNe!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6f17b156-1142-4352-beef-4859d25ebe88_730x486.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0tNe!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6f17b156-1142-4352-beef-4859d25ebe88_730x486.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0tNe!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6f17b156-1142-4352-beef-4859d25ebe88_730x486.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0tNe!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6f17b156-1142-4352-beef-4859d25ebe88_730x486.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0tNe!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6f17b156-1142-4352-beef-4859d25ebe88_730x486.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0tNe!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6f17b156-1142-4352-beef-4859d25ebe88_730x486.jpeg" width="730" height="486" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6f17b156-1142-4352-beef-4859d25ebe88_730x486.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:486,&quot;width&quot;:730,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;Boston Dynamics&#8217; Atlas humanoid robot goes electric&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="Boston Dynamics&#8217; Atlas humanoid robot goes electric" title="Boston Dynamics&#8217; Atlas humanoid robot goes electric" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0tNe!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6f17b156-1142-4352-beef-4859d25ebe88_730x486.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0tNe!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6f17b156-1142-4352-beef-4859d25ebe88_730x486.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0tNe!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6f17b156-1142-4352-beef-4859d25ebe88_730x486.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0tNe!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6f17b156-1142-4352-beef-4859d25ebe88_730x486.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Atlas was originally envisioned as a search-and-rescue robot and Boston Dynamics claims the latest model is designed for real-world applications. It calls Atlas "the world&#8217;s most dynamic humanoid robot" and it certainly looks sleek and acrobatic. You might even say Boston Dynamics is known for robot stunt videos. That&#8217;s how you get <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@BostonDynamics">3.3 million YouTube subscribers </a>I guess. </p><p>They were owned by Google, then Softbank, then sold to Hyundai in December, 2020 for nearly $1 Bn. </p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://firstfuturist.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://firstfuturist.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Apple Will be a Leader in Robotics - Here's Why]]></title><description><![CDATA[A consumer robot would allow Apple to build an ambient computing moat that could last decades.]]></description><link>https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/apple-will-be-a-leader-in-robotics</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/apple-will-be-a-leader-in-robotics</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Spencer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 10 Apr 2024 08:29:17 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7dws!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd127b838-75c7-4a2b-a2f0-6f355d364e67_1200x900.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7dws!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd127b838-75c7-4a2b-a2f0-6f355d364e67_1200x900.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7dws!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd127b838-75c7-4a2b-a2f0-6f355d364e67_1200x900.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7dws!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd127b838-75c7-4a2b-a2f0-6f355d364e67_1200x900.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7dws!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd127b838-75c7-4a2b-a2f0-6f355d364e67_1200x900.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7dws!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd127b838-75c7-4a2b-a2f0-6f355d364e67_1200x900.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7dws!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd127b838-75c7-4a2b-a2f0-6f355d364e67_1200x900.jpeg" width="1200" height="900" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/d127b838-75c7-4a2b-a2f0-6f355d364e67_1200x900.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:900,&quot;width&quot;:1200,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;Is WALL-E Male or Female?. How a pair of animated robots ...&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="Is WALL-E Male or Female?. How a pair of animated robots ..." title="Is WALL-E Male or Female?. How a pair of animated robots ..." srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7dws!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd127b838-75c7-4a2b-a2f0-6f355d364e67_1200x900.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7dws!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd127b838-75c7-4a2b-a2f0-6f355d364e67_1200x900.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7dws!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd127b838-75c7-4a2b-a2f0-6f355d364e67_1200x900.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7dws!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd127b838-75c7-4a2b-a2f0-6f355d364e67_1200x900.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Hello Everyone, </p><p>These days Apple is caught catching up in Generative AI and having finally given up on an EV (it was too late), robotics is now again a hot sector and my question is will Apple become a consumer home robotics leader?</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://firstfuturist.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://firstfuturist.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p><div class="poll-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:164535}" data-component-name="PollToDOM"></div><p>Apple&#8217;s search for a bold new product category feels neverending since the iPhone was developed and if the Vision Pro is not it, potentially could Apple become known for consumer robots? </p><p>According to <em>Bloomberg</em>'s <a href="https://www.macrumors.com/guide/mark-gurman/">Mark Gurman</a>, Apple is looking for its "next big thing," and robotics are one area of focus. However very few details have been given and Apple is itself a fairly secretive company. </p><p>Apple could make cute robots of the Disney or Wall-E variety that have a screen, follow you around and are more like extensions of your iOS ecosystem no matter where you are. But there has been a lot of speculation and debate on what point or service such a robot would really serve?</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/apple-will-be-a-leader-in-robotics/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/apple-will-be-a-leader-in-robotics/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p>Analysts and shareholders appear relatively skeptical that Apple can make this a real revenue source. However with all that they achieved with the AppleWatch, never say never when it comes to Apple&#8217;s understanding of what makes their consumers tick. </p><p>A robot could provide useful data points on their customers and enable more ambient computing in their real home environments, a space companies like Amazon and even Google might be after as well. Given the rise of AI in robotics, Apple might also not want to be too far behind on the adoption curve if the space heats up again. </p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-04-07/apple-aapl-future-products-could-include-robots-and-smart-home-push-lupinmna&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Read Mark Gurman&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-04-07/apple-aapl-future-products-could-include-robots-and-smart-home-push-lupinmna"><span>Read Mark Gurman</span></a></p><blockquote><p>While Apple's robotics projects are still in the very early stages, <em>Bloomberg</em> said it had already started working on a mobile robot that can follow users around their home and had already developed a table-top device that uses a robot to move a screen around.</p></blockquote><h3>Could Apple get into Senior Care Robots?</h3><p>While a smart speaker is useful for music lovers, and earbuds with an upgraded Siri are obviously coming, a robot provides a level of companionship that some older customers might enjoy as they hit retirement age. It&#8217;s not what it can show on a screen that is important, but a level of even healthcare interventions and mental health checks that a home robot might accomplish for a user. </p><p>Apple has been getting more into healthcare in recent years. Apple does want to <a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2022/07/how-apple-is-empowering-people-with-their-health-information/">empower people with their health information</a>. A robot could provide a modular interface with people in their natural environments, their homes. A robot can also become more intimate than a smart phone or an AI device that&#8217;s simply a small object with sensors. </p><p>Apple even made a report back in 2022 about their health enhancements to users: </p><p></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.apple.com/newsroom/pdfs/Health-Report-October-2023.pdf&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Read the Report&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/pdfs/Health-Report-October-2023.pdf"><span>Read the Report</span></a></p><p>It&#8217;s possible that a natural extension from wearables and spatial computing is actually the human interface between a person and their pet robot. The level of personalization that will become possible soon with Generative AI and on-device LLMs might be impressive for applications of consumer robots who can actually interact with us. </p><p>Apple could become a custodian and begin to own that human-robotics interface and channel. </p><h4>Apple&#8217;s Ambient Computing</h4><ul><li><p>MacOS</p></li><li><p>iOS </p></li><li><p>Apple Services</p></li><li><p>Voice speakers</p></li><li><p>Wearables</p></li><li><p>Spatial computing (e.g. gaming, meetings)</p></li><li><p><em><strong>Robotics</strong></em> </p></li></ul><p>Consumer robots could play more vital roles in the future in family settings as well. Hypothetically there&#8217;s more here than many companies realize and it all has to do with the growing capabilities of what Generative AI will allow in robot-to-human interactions. </p><ul><li><p>Health information</p></li><li><p>Family Wellness</p></li><li><p>Reminders and daily routines </p></li><li><p>Mental health counseling </p></li><li><p>Senior care interventions </p></li></ul><p>According to the report, Apple is apparently worried about whether people would pay "top dollar" for the robots it has in mind, and executives still can't get to an agreement on whether the company should keep working on these projects. Adoption of spatial computing is hampered by a high price point for the Vision Pro. </p><p>Apple would need to put enough capabilities into its pet robots for them to be attractive enough to consumers which might take many years of R&amp;D. </p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://firstfuturist.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://firstfuturist.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Does AI need a “body” to become truly intelligent?]]></title><description><![CDATA[BigTech are now converging on Robotics in a race with China.]]></description><link>https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/does-ai-need-a-body-to-become-truly</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/does-ai-need-a-body-to-become-truly</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Spencer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 01 Apr 2024 10:58:57 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hAgV!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffa2b1d14-a74e-47ca-990c-039c12fc2b42_898x381.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hey Everyone, </p><p>In recent times, Robots are becoming a lot more important to how we are making progress in AI. LLMs are opening up new possibilities for embodied AI. </p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[NVIDIA Announces Project GR00T]]></title><description><![CDATA[Foundation Model for Humanoid Robots &#129302;]]></description><link>https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/nvidia-announces-project-gr00t</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/nvidia-announces-project-gr00t</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Spencer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 19 Mar 2024 13:29:14 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JeR-!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F338bdc6e-aab1-4e22-a4b7-2e12aa5f29d6_780x413.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JeR-!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F338bdc6e-aab1-4e22-a4b7-2e12aa5f29d6_780x413.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JeR-!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F338bdc6e-aab1-4e22-a4b7-2e12aa5f29d6_780x413.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JeR-!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F338bdc6e-aab1-4e22-a4b7-2e12aa5f29d6_780x413.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JeR-!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F338bdc6e-aab1-4e22-a4b7-2e12aa5f29d6_780x413.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JeR-!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F338bdc6e-aab1-4e22-a4b7-2e12aa5f29d6_780x413.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JeR-!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F338bdc6e-aab1-4e22-a4b7-2e12aa5f29d6_780x413.png" width="780" height="413" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/338bdc6e-aab1-4e22-a4b7-2e12aa5f29d6_780x413.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:413,&quot;width&quot;:780,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;NVIDIA &#23637;&#31034;&#20154;&#24418;&#27231;&#22120;&#20154;Project GR00T &#22522;&#30990;&#27169;&#22411;&#36879;&#36942;&#29702;&#35299;&#33258;&#28982;&#35486;&#35328;&#33287;&#27169;&#20223;&#21205;&#20316;&#20358;&#36948;&#25104;&#26356;&#22810;&#20219;&#21209;&#21487;&#33021;- Mobile01&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="NVIDIA &#23637;&#31034;&#20154;&#24418;&#27231;&#22120;&#20154;Project GR00T &#22522;&#30990;&#27169;&#22411;&#36879;&#36942;&#29702;&#35299;&#33258;&#28982;&#35486;&#35328;&#33287;&#27169;&#20223;&#21205;&#20316;&#20358;&#36948;&#25104;&#26356;&#22810;&#20219;&#21209;&#21487;&#33021;- Mobile01" title="NVIDIA &#23637;&#31034;&#20154;&#24418;&#27231;&#22120;&#20154;Project GR00T &#22522;&#30990;&#27169;&#22411;&#36879;&#36942;&#29702;&#35299;&#33258;&#28982;&#35486;&#35328;&#33287;&#27169;&#20223;&#21205;&#20316;&#20358;&#36948;&#25104;&#26356;&#22810;&#20219;&#21209;&#21487;&#33021;- Mobile01" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JeR-!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F338bdc6e-aab1-4e22-a4b7-2e12aa5f29d6_780x413.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JeR-!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F338bdc6e-aab1-4e22-a4b7-2e12aa5f29d6_780x413.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JeR-!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F338bdc6e-aab1-4e22-a4b7-2e12aa5f29d6_780x413.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JeR-!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F338bdc6e-aab1-4e22-a4b7-2e12aa5f29d6_780x413.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Hey Everyone, </p><p>I&#8217;m a bit tired today, I&#8217;ve been writing all day about Nvidia&#8217;s GTC conference and related AI announcements. </p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://aisupremacy.substack.com/p/nvidias-woodstock-of-ai-conference&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Read the Deep Dive&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://aisupremacy.substack.com/p/nvidias-woodstock-of-ai-conference"><span>Read the Deep Dive</span></a></p><p>But Nvidia also made some pretty important announcements to my emerging tech coverage in general, including Project GR00T. </p><p>One of my favorite people to follow in Robotics<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjimfan/"> is Jim Fan of Nvidia</a>. I&#8217;m in the process of making a list of the top people to follow in Robotics. </p><p>13 hours ago this is what he shared on a LinkedIn Post: </p><h3>AGI in the Physical World </h3><blockquote><p>Today is the beginning of our moonshot to solve embodied AGI in the physical world. I&#8217;m so excited to announce Project GR00T, our new initiative to create a general-purpose foundation model for humanoid robot learning.<br><br>The GR00T model will enable a humanoid robot to understand multimodal instructions, such as language, video, and demonstration, and perform a variety of useful tasks. We are collaborating with many leading humanoid companies around the world, so that GR00T may transfer across embodiments and help the ecosystem thrive.<br><br>GR00T is born on NVIDIA&#8217;s deep technology stack. We simulate in Isaac Lab (new app on Omniverse Isaac Sim for humanoid learning), train on OSMO (new compute orchestration system to scale up models), and deploy to Jetson Thor (new edge GPU chip designed to power GR00T).<br><br>Announced in Jensen's GTC keynote, Project GR00T is a cornerstone for the &#8220;Foundation Agent&#8221; roadmap of the newly founded GEAR Lab. At GEAR, we are building generally capable agents that learn to act skillfully in many worlds, virtual and real. See if you can spot "GEAR" in the video ;)</p></blockquote><div class="native-video-embed" data-component-name="VideoPlaceholder" data-attrs="{&quot;mediaUploadId&quot;:&quot;3bc0840a-0a41-436c-aeab-90a79f27087c&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:null}"></div><p>So what&#8217;s clear is that Nvidia, Amazon, Tesla and around a dozen serious humanoid AI startups are working towards merging some aspects of Generative AI with robots. </p><p><strong>Project GR00T</strong> emerges as Nvidia&#8217;s response to the growing interest in humanoid robots, proposing a general-purpose foundation model aimed at supporting a wide array of companies in this sector, such as Agility Robotics, Boston Dynamics, and XPENG Robotics, among others. </p><p>When Microsoft, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/29/robot-startup-figure-valued-at-2point6-billion-by-bezos-amazon-nvidia.html#">Nvidia and OpenAI participated</a> in the funding of FigureAI&#8217;s latest round, you knew something was up. </p><p 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      <p>
          <a href="https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/nvidia-announces-project-gr00t">
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[An OpenAI Spinout is building a Robot Brain of AI]]></title><description><![CDATA[Covariant has built a Robot Brain LLM.]]></description><link>https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/an-openai-spinout-is-building-a-robot</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/an-openai-spinout-is-building-a-robot</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Spencer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 13 Mar 2024 11:29:09 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uhec!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F257107c2-d902-419b-ab34-38aeada41dd4_800x450.gif" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uhec!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F257107c2-d902-419b-ab34-38aeada41dd4_800x450.gif" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uhec!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F257107c2-d902-419b-ab34-38aeada41dd4_800x450.gif 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uhec!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F257107c2-d902-419b-ab34-38aeada41dd4_800x450.gif 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uhec!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F257107c2-d902-419b-ab34-38aeada41dd4_800x450.gif 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uhec!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F257107c2-d902-419b-ab34-38aeada41dd4_800x450.gif 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uhec!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F257107c2-d902-419b-ab34-38aeada41dd4_800x450.gif" width="800" height="450" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/257107c2-d902-419b-ab34-38aeada41dd4_800x450.gif&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:450,&quot;width&quot;:800,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:3242285,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/gif&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uhec!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F257107c2-d902-419b-ab34-38aeada41dd4_800x450.gif 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uhec!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F257107c2-d902-419b-ab34-38aeada41dd4_800x450.gif 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uhec!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F257107c2-d902-419b-ab34-38aeada41dd4_800x450.gif 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uhec!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F257107c2-d902-419b-ab34-38aeada41dd4_800x450.gif 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p></p><p>Hey Everyone, </p><p>How do I say this? I think I started a Robotics Newsletter just in the nick of time. </p><p>And how to put this? I&#8217;ll just say it bluntly: An OpenAI spinoff has built an AI model that helps robots learn tasks like humans. All of this just as I was thinking of the AI coding agent called <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7173556240717897729/">Devin</a>. It seems like some aspects of automation and AI agents got their cue that 2024 is a big reveal year. </p><div class="native-video-embed" data-component-name="VideoPlaceholder" data-attrs="{&quot;mediaUploadId&quot;:&quot;fafd2334-92da-4eef-ba9a-5ca351ae8fd6&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:null}"></div><p>Covariant AI who got $75 million last year in a Series C, is making some improvements to the scope of their work. They announced the launch of <a href="https://covariant.ai/insights/introducing-rfm-1-giving-robots-human-like-reasoning-capabilities/">RFM-1</a> (Robotics Foundation Model 1). Peter Chen, the co-founder and CEO of the UC Berkeley artificial intelligence spinout tells TechCrunch the platform, &#8220;is basically a large language model (LLM), but for robot language.&#8221;</p><p></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://covariant.ai/insights/introducing-rfm-1-giving-robots-human-like-reasoning-capabilities/&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Read More&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://covariant.ai/insights/introducing-rfm-1-giving-robots-human-like-reasoning-capabilities/"><span>Read More</span></a></p><ul><li><p>The World Wide Web officially turned 35 Tuesday and a lot is about to change. </p></li><li><p>Another robotics startup I&#8217;ve been watching Bear Robotics got a $60 million funding round for its <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/12/bear-robotics-a-robot-waiter-startup-just-picked-up-60m-from-lg/">robotic waiter</a>. </p></li></ul><p></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://firstfuturist.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://firstfuturist.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Agility Robotics Partnership with Amazon Accelerates ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Update on Agility Robotics and its Digit Robot.]]></description><link>https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/agility-robotics-partnership-with</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/agility-robotics-partnership-with</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Spencer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 07 Mar 2024 17:01:59 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!acRe!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63d662bb-d796-4f48-877b-80e77922302c_825x619.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!acRe!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63d662bb-d796-4f48-877b-80e77922302c_825x619.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!acRe!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63d662bb-d796-4f48-877b-80e77922302c_825x619.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!acRe!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63d662bb-d796-4f48-877b-80e77922302c_825x619.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!acRe!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63d662bb-d796-4f48-877b-80e77922302c_825x619.png 1272w, 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data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/63d662bb-d796-4f48-877b-80e77922302c_825x619.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:619,&quot;width&quot;:825,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:1394056,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!acRe!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63d662bb-d796-4f48-877b-80e77922302c_825x619.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!acRe!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63d662bb-d796-4f48-877b-80e77922302c_825x619.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!acRe!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63d662bb-d796-4f48-877b-80e77922302c_825x619.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!acRe!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63d662bb-d796-4f48-877b-80e77922302c_825x619.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p></p><p>Hey Everyone, </p><p>This week I&#8217;ve noticed a PR campaign by Amazon and for Agility Robotics. The pilot of Amazon with Agility Robotics goes back quite a ways. </p><p>Back in October, 2023 we learned Amazon began testing Agility&#8217;s Digit in a move that could bring the bipedal robot to its nationwide fulfillment centers. So what has become of those tests? Back in September, 2023 we learned that Agility Robotics was opening a first-of-its-kind factory in Salem, Oregon where it will mass produce a line of humanoid robots called Digit.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Vqv0!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5cad9f34-dde2-4914-ba6a-589bba92d776_929x523.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Vqv0!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5cad9f34-dde2-4914-ba6a-589bba92d776_929x523.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Vqv0!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5cad9f34-dde2-4914-ba6a-589bba92d776_929x523.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Vqv0!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5cad9f34-dde2-4914-ba6a-589bba92d776_929x523.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Vqv0!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5cad9f34-dde2-4914-ba6a-589bba92d776_929x523.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Vqv0!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5cad9f34-dde2-4914-ba6a-589bba92d776_929x523.jpeg" width="929" height="523" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/5cad9f34-dde2-4914-ba6a-589bba92d776_929x523.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:523,&quot;width&quot;:929,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;Agility Robotics humanoid robot, Digit.&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="Agility Robotics humanoid robot, Digit." title="Agility Robotics humanoid robot, Digit." srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Vqv0!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5cad9f34-dde2-4914-ba6a-589bba92d776_929x523.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Vqv0!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5cad9f34-dde2-4914-ba6a-589bba92d776_929x523.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Vqv0!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5cad9f34-dde2-4914-ba6a-589bba92d776_929x523.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Vqv0!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5cad9f34-dde2-4914-ba6a-589bba92d776_929x523.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Amazon in the 2020s have an incredible opportunity testing and merging Generative AI with robotics and perhaps acquiring a few of their best pilots with robotics startups. In January, 2024 we learned that Amazon officially failed to acquire iRobot. iRobot&#8217;s stock <span class="cashtag-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;symbol&quot;:&quot;$IRBT&quot;}" data-component-name="CashtagToDOM"></span> has been in decline this year and imploding to the tune of 73% after this failure to be acquired by Amazon. </p><p>Agility Robotics has a <a href="https://agilityrobotics.com/news/2022/future-robotics-dk48e-ga562-58d8w">$150 million series B back in April, 2022</a>. Considering the recent funding of Figure AI, in robot years, that&#8217;s a long time ago. The stakes are high for these humanoid looking robots. </p><h2>Amazon Allocates $1 Billion to the Robots with Advanced AI </h2><p>The notion of humanoid robots working in factories no longer feels like some distant fantasy. Various videos now surface like memes on the internet about robots doing parkour, working out in factories or hopefully useful things. Then in a surprise move, in late February, 2024 we learned that Amazon&#8217;s $1 billion <a href="https://industrialinnovationfund.amazon/">Industrial Innovation Fund</a> is ramping up investments in companies that combine artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics.</p><p>Amazon&#8217;s stake and commitment to automating some of their more dangerous and warehouse jobs seems relatively strong, because let&#8217;s face it, retail and E-commerce are low margin businesses and last-mile logistics are extremely costly. </p><p>Amazon&#8217;s Industrial Innovation Fund (IFF) has already made 12 investments, including in <a href="https://www.mantis-robotics.com/">Mantis Robotics</a>, a company developing a robotic arm that works alongside humans, according to the report.</p><h3>Are the Robots coming for E-commerce Warehouses this time?</h3><p>&#8216;Digit&#8217; is in the midst of a test period as Amazon experiment with the capabilities of the tech. Agility, on the other hand, plans to build 10,000 robots a year and for warehouses and storerooms worldwide, with the company taking part in an investment boom that has drawn in $1.6 billion in venture capital in the last five years, the report said.</p><p>Digit is 5ft 9in (175cm), weighs 143lb (65kg), and can carry up to 35lb (16kg) in hands that can both grasp and lift. It looks relatively ahead of Tesla&#8217;s Optimus bot, judging from the videos. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qsO1!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8d97011f-8c30-4d48-8d8c-780b4ac6944f_4645x3116.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qsO1!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8d97011f-8c30-4d48-8d8c-780b4ac6944f_4645x3116.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qsO1!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8d97011f-8c30-4d48-8d8c-780b4ac6944f_4645x3116.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qsO1!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8d97011f-8c30-4d48-8d8c-780b4ac6944f_4645x3116.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qsO1!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8d97011f-8c30-4d48-8d8c-780b4ac6944f_4645x3116.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qsO1!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8d97011f-8c30-4d48-8d8c-780b4ac6944f_4645x3116.jpeg" width="1456" height="977" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/8d97011f-8c30-4d48-8d8c-780b4ac6944f_4645x3116.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:977,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qsO1!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8d97011f-8c30-4d48-8d8c-780b4ac6944f_4645x3116.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qsO1!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8d97011f-8c30-4d48-8d8c-780b4ac6944f_4645x3116.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qsO1!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8d97011f-8c30-4d48-8d8c-780b4ac6944f_4645x3116.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qsO1!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8d97011f-8c30-4d48-8d8c-780b4ac6944f_4645x3116.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>This week, Agility named Microsoft veteran <a href="https://agilityrobotics.com/news/agility-appoints-peggy-johnson-ceo">Peggy Johnson</a> its second-ever CEO. With this, the company is, perhaps, unique among its peers in having female executives in five C-Suite roles. I actually know Peggy from her time at <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggyljohnson/">MagicLeap, a well funded VR enterprise startup</a>, where I thought she did a pretty decent job. From spatial computing to general purpose robots, talk about a magic leap in leadership. </p><p>Matt Day of Bloomberg <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mattmday_humanoid-robots-at-amazon-provide-glimpse-activity-7170422987232305152-Q6kT?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop">wrote an interesting piece</a> that you can read <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-04/amazon-warehouses-provide-glimpse-of-workplace-humanoid-robots">here</a>. It&#8217;s not yet available on BNN. </p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-04/amazon-warehouses-provide-glimpse-of-workplace-humanoid-robots&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Read the blog&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-04/amazon-warehouses-provide-glimpse-of-workplace-humanoid-robots"><span>Read the blog</span></a></p><p>Then on March 6th, 2024 Amazon announced it is funding a recycling robots startup <strong><a href="https://www.greenbiz.com/article/amazon-funding-recycling-robots-startup">called Glacier</a>. </strong>While Google and Apple chase buzzy Generative AI, Amazon among the magnificent seven are best positioned to become the robotics AI leader of the world. There&#8217;s an order in the madness. This is why Amazon&#8217;s pilots of robots are so interesting. These things actually align with what they do in the real world. For the record, way more than Tesla, Hyundai or Microsoft. </p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://firstfuturist.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://firstfuturist.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[A Robot Company Just Proved humanoid robot hype is real in 2024]]></title><description><![CDATA[Is this the "ChatGPT" moment for General purpose robots?]]></description><link>https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/a-robot-company-just-proved-humanoid</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/a-robot-company-just-proved-humanoid</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Spencer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 29 Feb 2024 17:15:29 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nTtU!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0d305423-573e-45db-aa09-b26e160ffa6c_1200x597.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nTtU!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0d305423-573e-45db-aa09-b26e160ffa6c_1200x597.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nTtU!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0d305423-573e-45db-aa09-b26e160ffa6c_1200x597.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nTtU!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0d305423-573e-45db-aa09-b26e160ffa6c_1200x597.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nTtU!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0d305423-573e-45db-aa09-b26e160ffa6c_1200x597.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nTtU!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0d305423-573e-45db-aa09-b26e160ffa6c_1200x597.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nTtU!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0d305423-573e-45db-aa09-b26e160ffa6c_1200x597.jpeg" width="1200" height="597" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/0d305423-573e-45db-aa09-b26e160ffa6c_1200x597.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:597,&quot;width&quot;:1200,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;Image&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="Image" title="Image" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nTtU!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0d305423-573e-45db-aa09-b26e160ffa6c_1200x597.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nTtU!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0d305423-573e-45db-aa09-b26e160ffa6c_1200x597.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nTtU!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0d305423-573e-45db-aa09-b26e160ffa6c_1200x597.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nTtU!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0d305423-573e-45db-aa09-b26e160ffa6c_1200x597.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><h4>February 29th, 2024. </h4><p></p><p>Hey Everyone, </p><p>So that rumor we talked about previously has today come to fruition. And we have to appreciate the funding round size of this compared to anything previously. </p><ul><li><p>Announcing: Figure raises $675M at $2.6B valuation </p></li><li><p>In addition, OpenAI &amp; Figure signed a collaboration agreement to develop next generation AI model. </p></li></ul><p>Figure migh&#8230;</p>
      <p>
          <a href="https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/a-robot-company-just-proved-humanoid">
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Humanoid Robots are having a Big Year in 2024]]></title><description><![CDATA[Breaking News around Figure AI massive $675 million funding.]]></description><link>https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/humanoid-robots-are-having-a-big</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/humanoid-robots-are-having-a-big</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Spencer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 24 Feb 2024 08:58:16 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cxXF!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3472592c-44c4-4f1d-b1f7-1c77336127fc_1852x1366.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cxXF!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3472592c-44c4-4f1d-b1f7-1c77336127fc_1852x1366.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cxXF!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3472592c-44c4-4f1d-b1f7-1c77336127fc_1852x1366.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cxXF!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3472592c-44c4-4f1d-b1f7-1c77336127fc_1852x1366.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cxXF!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3472592c-44c4-4f1d-b1f7-1c77336127fc_1852x1366.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cxXF!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3472592c-44c4-4f1d-b1f7-1c77336127fc_1852x1366.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cxXF!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3472592c-44c4-4f1d-b1f7-1c77336127fc_1852x1366.png" width="1456" height="1074" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/3472592c-44c4-4f1d-b1f7-1c77336127fc_1852x1366.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1074,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;Getting philosophical with future robot overlord Brett Adcock&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="Getting philosophical with future robot overlord Brett Adcock" title="Getting philosophical with future robot overlord Brett Adcock" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cxXF!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3472592c-44c4-4f1d-b1f7-1c77336127fc_1852x1366.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cxXF!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3472592c-44c4-4f1d-b1f7-1c77336127fc_1852x1366.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cxXF!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3472592c-44c4-4f1d-b1f7-1c77336127fc_1852x1366.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cxXF!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3472592c-44c4-4f1d-b1f7-1c77336127fc_1852x1366.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Hey Everyone, </p><p>I&#8217;m still struggling with my covid recovery which has me with some measure of &#8216;brain fog&#8217;, but not enough not for me not to notice or to be impressed with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/michaelkspencer_humanoid-robotics-startup-figure-has-managed-activity-7167053458313859072-xRZV?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop">some recent breaking news</a> in the robotics field. </p><p>Humanoid robotics startup Figure, has managed to raise a huge $675 million round that makes this all more possible.<br><br>Jeff Bezos, Nvidia, OpenAI, Microsoft, &amp; Amazon are backing 'Figure AI', a startup developing human-like robots, is raising $675M, valuing the company at ~$2B<br><br>Bezos contributes $100M, Microsoft $95M, with Nvidia and Amazon each investing $50M.<br><br>I cover Robotics news on my Newsletter, <a href="https://firstfuturist.substack.com/subscribe?">OK Robot</a>.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/humanoid-robots-are-having-a-big?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/humanoid-robots-are-having-a-big?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p>Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/adcock_brett">Brett Adcock&#8217;s X</a>,<s> Twitter</s> account for the latest news on Figure AI. </p><div class="native-video-embed" data-component-name="VideoPlaceholder" data-attrs="{&quot;mediaUploadId&quot;:&quot;f986fab7-8987-446e-bbed-329df36cbb09&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:null}"></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://firstfuturist.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://firstfuturist.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>This is breaking news and is truly fascinating if you believe humanoid robots can scale to do repetitive work in the decades ahead. </p>
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          <a href="https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/humanoid-robots-are-having-a-big">
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Monumental and the Future of construction robots]]></title><description><![CDATA[Robotics are taking on construction and precision manufacturing tasks.]]></description><link>https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/monumental-and-the-future-of-construction</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/monumental-and-the-future-of-construction</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Spencer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 21 Feb 2024 12:29:11 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!8qFH!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fffb72178-7af0-47d3-8f92-ca796471479e_1440x960.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!8qFH!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fffb72178-7af0-47d3-8f92-ca796471479e_1440x960.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!8qFH!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fffb72178-7af0-47d3-8f92-ca796471479e_1440x960.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!8qFH!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fffb72178-7af0-47d3-8f92-ca796471479e_1440x960.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!8qFH!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fffb72178-7af0-47d3-8f92-ca796471479e_1440x960.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!8qFH!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fffb72178-7af0-47d3-8f92-ca796471479e_1440x960.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!8qFH!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fffb72178-7af0-47d3-8f92-ca796471479e_1440x960.jpeg" width="1440" height="960" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ffb72178-7af0-47d3-8f92-ca796471479e_1440x960.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:960,&quot;width&quot;:1440,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;Monumental co-founders Sebastiaan Visser and Salar al-Khafaji&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="Monumental co-founders Sebastiaan Visser and Salar al-Khafaji" title="Monumental co-founders Sebastiaan Visser and Salar al-Khafaji" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!8qFH!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fffb72178-7af0-47d3-8f92-ca796471479e_1440x960.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!8qFH!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fffb72178-7af0-47d3-8f92-ca796471479e_1440x960.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!8qFH!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fffb72178-7af0-47d3-8f92-ca796471479e_1440x960.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!8qFH!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fffb72178-7af0-47d3-8f92-ca796471479e_1440x960.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Hey Everyone, </p><p>I&#8217;ve always imagined robots would help us build the new world, quite literally. Now new startups are getting funding like <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2024/02/08/daedalus-manufacturing-jonas-schneider-openai-robotics-raises-21-million/">Daedalus</a> and Monumental, that put this into reality. Curiously both of these startups are in Europe, in Germany and the Netherlands respectively. </p><p>In Europe, more than half (57 per cent) of the countries are facing a severe shortage of bricklayers. In the UK alone, there is an estimated shortfall of 75,000 bricklayers needed to build the 300,000 houses required annually by 2025.</p><p>Mobile robot construction systems provide cutting-edge solutions for accelerating construction. But what happens when they become autonomous and are able to conduct construction projects themselves? </p><p>Moreover, 82 million Europeans are at risk of homelessness due to a lack of affordable housing, which is holding back productivity in the global construction industry.</p><p>So Monumental has raised $25M (&#163;20M) to upscale its new technology that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to autonomously drive bricklaying robots.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.monumental.co/posts/announcing-our-25-million-fundraise&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Read their Blog&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.monumental.co/posts/announcing-our-25-million-fundraise"><span>Read their Blog</span></a></p><div id="youtube2-E3R-0ASH_Wk" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;E3R-0ASH_Wk&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/E3R-0ASH_Wk?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div>
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          <a href="https://firstfuturist.substack.com/p/monumental-and-the-future-of-construction">
              Read more
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