Robotics

Today's Stories

1. 1

   AI² Robotics raises $735M, valuation tops $2.8B on wheeled humanoid push

   AI² Robotics, a Shenzhen-based robotics company, raised about $735 million（約1200億円） in funding that valued the firm past 50 billion RMB, or about $2.8 billion（約4500億円） U.S. Backers include government funds, industrial corporations like Moutai Group, and financial firms such as CICC Capital and GSR Ventures. The diverse investor base signals strategic importance placed on physical AI in China's robotics sector. AI² Robotics differs from most competitors by using a wheeled base instead of legged locomotion on its humanoid-style robots—a design choice that lowers production costs, improves durability, and reduces regulatory friction for public deployment, positioning the company as a leader among China's physical AI firms.

   AI² Robotics is deploying AlphaBot 2 into structured industrial and commercial environments—logistics, manufacturing, biotech, public service, and retail—rather than pursuing consumer or household applications in the near term. The robot operates on the company's proprietary Alpha Brain vision-language-action model for real-time spatial reasoning and multi-step task planning.

2. 2

   Fieldwork Robotics secures investment to scale berry-picking robot deployment

   Fieldwork Robotics, which makes autonomous harvesting robots, received investment from SEED Innovations as part of a £2.5 million Seed+ fundraise announced in April 2026. The company is now moving from technology validation to commercial trials, with production robots currently deploying on farms in Norfolk and Stafford as part of a two-year government-backed programme. Berry growers worldwide face rising labour costs, shortages of fruit pickers, and supply chain pressures that drive up harvesting wages—challenges that increase food waste, push up consumer prices, and contribute to higher climate emissions. Fieldwork's robots address these issues directly by reducing reliance on seasonal labour and boosting farm productivity, helping growers protect margins while operating sustainably.

   Subject to the ongoing trials, Fieldwork expects multi-robot fleets to be operating on farms from 2027, with planned international trials in Australia as part of its global expansion strategy.

3. 3

   FORT Robotics brings outside-in safety to robots with Nvidia Halos

   FORT Robotics joined Nvidia's Halos for Robotics ecosystem and is demonstrating an agentic safety application using Nvidia's Outside-In Safety Blueprint this week at the Automate conference in Chicago. The solution combines external infrastructure sensors and visual AI agents with onboard robot perception to deliver real-time functional safety. Traditional robot safety systems rely only on onboard sensors and force robots to operate conservatively, slowing them down in dynamic warehouse and factory environments. Outside-In Safety automatically adjusts robot efficiency across changing environments, which means warehouses and factories can run robots faster while keeping workers safe—unlocking cost savings from processes like trailer unloading, inventory replenishment, and product assembly.

   FORT is a member of Nvidia's AI Systems Inspection Lab, the world's first ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB)-accredited inspection lab designed specifically for physical AI and autonomous systems. The lab verifies functional safety, cybersecurity, and AI compliance for autonomous vehicles, robotics, and sensor technologies.

4. 4

   Richtech Robotics launches 24/7 livestream of AI robot ADAM for interactive engagement

   Richtech Robotics, a Nevada-based AI robotics company, has launched a live 24/7 interactive streaming platform featuring its humanoid robot ADAM, allowing audiences worldwide to chat with and ask questions of the robot in real time. The platform positions ADAM as one of the first robot "influencers" and demonstrates how AI-powered robots can communicate naturally with users in physical environments—a capability the company says advances human-robot interaction and bridges human expertise with robotic efficiency.

   Unlike pre-taped livestreams, the ADAM platform is built as a bespoke, user-controlled experience rather than passive viewing; the company also plans to use the initiative to showcase its broader portfolio of AI-driven automation solutions for hospitality, automotive, and manufacturing environments.

5. 5

   Two humanoid robot teams play first full 11-vs-11 soccer match

   Two full-sized humanoid robot teams played an 11-vs-11 soccer match on hardware for the first time, representing a milestone in a long-standing robotics vision. The match took place at RoboCup 2026 in Incheon, South Korea, where Tech United faced IRIS in the mid-size league. This achievement brings one of robotics' most ambitious goals closer to reality by demonstrating that teams of humanoid robots can coordinate to play a complex, dynamic sport. The success suggests the underlying technologies—mobility, sensing, coordination—are maturing beyond controlled laboratory settings.

   The achievement is part of a broader wave of robotics breakthroughs shown at RoboCup 2026 and related events, including robots that can swim and fly, hands matching human dexterity, and AI models improving task success rates to 99% from prior baselines of 64%.

6. 6

   Commercial UAV Expo Launches Public Safety Drone Program, Draws World Cup Security Lessons

   Commercial UAV Expo announced a new two-day DRONERESPONDERS Program Management Course and the full 2026 DRONERESPONDERS Public Safety Summit agenda, both held September 1–3, 2026 at Caesars Forum in Las Vegas. The Summit will feature sessions on airspace security lessons from the FIFA World Cup, where the FBI seized more than 600 drones from restricted airspace across 11 U.S. host cities and federal agencies detected more than 1,000 drones near venues. The World Cup response is serving as a real-world stress test for U.S. public safety airspace management, and federal officials have said the effort is laying groundwork for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, funded in part by a $250 million（約400億円） FEMA counter-UAS grant to host states. The Program Management Course addresses a structural gap: many public safety UAS programs plateau because leaders lack a playbook for scaling from foundation to full operational maturity.

   The Summit spans two days with sessions for law enforcement, fire, EMS, search and rescue, emergency management and transportation agencies, covering topics from drone-as-first-responder scaling and BVLOS operations to AI-enabled workflows and Advanced Air Mobility integration. The Program Management Course provides a certificate of completion and covers regulatory considerations, safety management systems, interagency collaboration, and emerging technologies.