AI Nightlife Booms In San Francisco With Robots As A Draw - Yahoo News Australia
But, at the same time, he also cautions that humanoids are not going into the home any time soon. This is because of cost, safety and training challenges as every home is different. “Absolutely humanoids are going to be part of everyday life.
Key takeaways
The most recent headlines show that humanoid robotics is moving from prototypes to large‑scale industrial use and toward consumer‑grade capabilities. A UK‑based startup called Humanoid has signed a binding, phased supply agreement with motion‑technology giant Schaeffler to integrate a four‑digit fleet of wheeled humanoid robots into live manufacturing operations, beginning at two German sites between December 2026 and June 2027 and aiming for thousands of units worldwide by 2032; the deal also includes a seven‑digit actuator order that hints at a potential 100,000‑robot rollout by 2031. At the same time, Figure AI unveiled a video of its Helix 02 humanoid robots making a bed together and announced that the machines have been retrained to handle more complex household tasks such as opening doors, pushing furniture and draping clothing, though a consumer launch date has not been set. Competition in the sector is heating up, with Figure and rival 1X releasing new factory‑floor footage that contrasts their differing design and manufacturing approaches. Industry analysts at the Robotics Summit highlighted a technical roadmap for scaling humanoids, emphasizing high‑bandwidth sensor fusion, real‑time edge AI and precision motor control, while Analog Devices pointed to a convergence of perception technologies from automotive to humanoid platforms. In Japan, a university‑run Robotics Innovation Center opened an unmanned laboratory staffed by ten robots, including the Maholo LabDroid humanoid, to automate medical‑research tasks, underscoring the expanding role of humanoids across manufacturing, home assistance and research environments.
But, at the same time, he also cautions that humanoids are not going into the home any time soon. This is because of cost, safety and training challenges as every home is different.
“Absolutely humanoids are going to be part of everyday life. They’re going to completely transform labor and how we think about work. They’re going to be the foundation of economies. It’s going to be a really big change, like the introduction of electricity. It’s just the path to get there starts with things like warehouses, then manufacturing, then retail stocking shelves, then hospitals and construction sites. And then, eventually, showing up in homes,” Hurst said. “It always starts with the dullest, dirtiest and most dangerous jobs.”
Watch Digit in action here.
I opted to miss a factory floor tour at BCG Edge Expo to meet up with Digit and needed to dart off to a dinner party to meet the incoming and outgoing PagerDuty CEOs John Dilullo and Jennifer Tejada. But first wanted to see if Digit was truly autonomous as I had grown skeptical of hyped humanoids that so often turn out to be remote-controlled and scripted.
Agility Robotics Chief Business Officer Daniel Diez assured me the robot is working on its own, performing its job without human intervention, other than fleet monitoring from a remote operations center. “When the conveyor belt gets backed up and there’s no room to load, the robot on its own will decide to keep unloading carts that keep coming, but will stack items on the side until the conveyor belt starts to move again. No human told it to do that, it just understands its job and goes about doing it autonomously," Diez said.
There are currently tens of Digits deployed across Amazon, Toyota, Schaeffler and GXO Logistics warehouses doing proof of concepts and trials, said Agility Robotics Chief Executive Officer Peggy Johnson. A safety certified Digit Version 5 is targeted for release later this year to operate outside of the work cage and do multiple jobs at the same cost as an entry-level factory worker. With that version the startup is looking to scale.
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