Top 10 robotics developments of December 2025

Humanoid, a London-based robotics developer, in December 2025 announced the HMND 01 Alpha Bipedal. This is the company’s first humanoid robot, which it built from an initial design to a working prototype in just five months. Read more.

9. Researchers create programmable, autonomous robots smaller than a grain of rice

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Michigan have created what they claimed are the world’s smallest fully programmable robots. The robots are microscopic swimming machines that can independently sense and respond to their surroundings, operate for months, and cost just a penny each. Read more.

8. Digit humanoid joins Mercado Libre warehouse #### 8. Digit humanoid joins Mercado Libre warehouse

Mercado Libre, a leading commerce and fintech ecosystem in Latin America, has signed an agreement to integrate Agility Robotics’ Digit humanoid into its facility in San Antonio, Texas. Mercado Libre uses other types of warehouse robots at its facilities, but this appears to be its first foray into humanoids. Read more.

7. iRobot to enter Chapter 11 and be acquired by Chinese creditor

As expected, iRobot announced that it has entered into a restructuring support agreement with its creditor Santrum Hong Kong Co. and primary contract manufacturer Shenzhen Picea Robotics Co. The Chinese companies plan to acquire the robotic vacuum cleaner pioneer through a court-supervised bankruptcy process. Read more. The Robot Report

Top 10 robotics developments of December 2025

By Brianna Wessling |

Despite the usual lull around the holidays, the robotics industry continued to move at a quick pace. In December 2025, we saw pillars of the robotics community face difficult times, new positions for leaders in industry, and even some new robot releases.

Here are the 10 most popular articles on The Robot Report in the past month. Subscribe to The Robot ReportNewsletter and listen to The Robot Report Podcast to stay up to date on the latest commercial robotics developments.

10. Humanoid says its first bipedal robot can start walking just 48 hours after assembly