San Francisco company offers cleaning service using ...
"You don't know if it's been speeded up, you don't know if there's a human behind-the-scenes, you don't know if they've kind of very carefully constructed the environment just right, so it works that time," Goldberg said.
Key takeaways
- The most recent developments in humanoid robotics show a surge of commercial, industrial, and policy activity.
- In August 2026, Chinese EV maker BYD announced it will debut functional humanoid robots at its Di Space event, positioning itself to compete directly with Tesla’s Optimus and other entrants such as Xpend, which plans a 1,000‑unit rollout in 2027.
- Meanwhile, Italian startup Generative Bionics has launched Gene.01, a fully sensorized humanoid with smart skin that can detect touch, temperature, force and the approach of nearby workers, aiming to reduce collisions in industrial settings.
- China’s 28th China Robot and Artificial Intelligence Competition (CRAIC) held its national humanoid finals in Beijing, drawing over 350 robots from 213 teams and featuring the first full‑size humanoids operating without remote control in realistic industrial scenarios.
- In the United States, Walden Robotics announced a partnership with Toyota to develop practical, wheel‑based humanoids for human‑centric workplaces, while a New York high‑school pilot of a silicone‑skinned teaching robot named Sally was paused amid privacy concerns, prompting state legislators to introduce a bill banning humanoid robots in schools.
"You don't know if it's been speeded up, you don't know if there's a human behind-the-scenes, you don't know if they've kind of very carefully constructed the environment just right, so it works that time," Goldberg said.
Despite questions about the technology's current capabilities, both the promise and challenges of humanoid robotics remain evident. The long-term goal is a humanoid robot capable of cleaning an entire home at a low cost, potentially making home cleaning services more accessible.
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San Francisco company offers cleaning service using humanoid robots
A robotics startup is offering humanoid home cleaning services for $30 an hour.
SAN FRANCISCO -- A San Francisco robotics startup has begun offering home cleaning services using humanoid robots, according to the company's CEO.
"Yeah, yesterday we made it public that we are starting to offer a cleaning service with humanoids in SF," said Alex Koch, CEO and co-founder of Tau Robotics.
The company is offering humanoid cleaning services for $30 an hour to selected applicants in San Francisco. Koch said the service is aimed in part at expanding access to home cleaning. "I think many of our initial customers are people who didn't have house cleaners, or are not that frequent house cleaners, human house cleaners, so it mainly just makes the market bigger," Koch said.
Koch said current artificial intelligence technology cannot fully control a humanoid robot on its own. Instead, he said, a person operates the robot from a central location with assistance from AI.
Videos provided by Tau Robotics show the humanoid robots performing cleaning tasks. One video, which was sped up, shows a robot exiting a minivan before a cleaning job.
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