Delivery robot startup Robot.com is betting its next act on workplace humanoids - Business Insider
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Key takeaways
- The most recent coverage shows that humanoid robots are moving from laboratory demos to commercial deployment across several sectors.
- Chinese EV maker BYD announced plans to place humanoid robots in every car showroom, joining rivals such as Tesla, which expects to start producing its Optimus model this summer, while the Chinese market already accounts for more than 80 % of global humanoid shipments.
- In the United States, Agility Robotics is heading to Wall Street through a SPAC merger that values the company at $2.5 billion, and it has begun installing its Digit robots in nine customer facilities, including Amazon and Toyota, marking the first commercial use of humanoids in U.S. warehouses.
- Nvidia is supporting the safety side of the industry with its Halos software, derived from autonomous‑vehicle technology, to give robots better situational awareness when operating around people.
- Meanwhile, delivery‑robot startup Robot.com is expanding its product line with “R‑noid,” a wheeled humanoid designed for order‑picking, packaging and workstation preparation in logistics, food service and healthcare.
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The latest news and analysis on robotics, from humanoid AI to real-world automation.
The latest news and analysis on robotics, from humanoid AI to real-world automation.
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Delivery robot startup Robot.com is betting its next act on workplace humanoids
By Lloyd Lee Lloyd Lee is a reporter based in San Francisco, CA.His coverage includes autonomous driving, EVs, and the latest trends in Silicon Valley and Big Tech.Previously, he was a reporter for Almanac News and Palo Alto Weekly, covering housing, business, and Silicon Valley.Reach Lloyd at lloydlee@businessinsider.com or on Signal at lloydlee.07.Relevant and popular stories:Rivian CEO shrugs off Trump's rollback of EV incentivesI rode a Waymo with my 6-year-old twins. The experience was fun but the use cases feel limited.Friends and former colleagues recall OpenAI whistleblower as 'one of the true geniuses'Rivian's head of software says the company is not trying to be like Tesla on automationAn ex-Tesla owner shares why his experience with a Rivian R1T during Hurricane Helene made him a convertA The San Francisco-based startup, formerly known as Kiwibot, told Business Insider it will launch R-noid, a humanoid robot on wheels that can package orders, load and unload boxes, and prep workstations. The startup is working with Physical Intelligence, one of its AI lab partners, to develop custom foundation models for R-noid.
CEO Felipe Chavez said in an interview that the robot is part of a nearly two-year-long process to expand beyond campus-delivery robots and into commercial labor automation across multiple industries, from food service to logistics and healthcare.
"We already have a foot in the door with our delivery robots," he said. "It made sense to also offer manipulation solutions."
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