🦾 HardTech Reads: The AI & Robotics Revolution vol.58
Welcome to the exploration of the world where founders embark on bold quests and solve non-obvious problems🤘
I hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving weekend! I’m on my way to Tokyo again, so I’ll report what’s happening on the ground soon :)
The end of the year is coming, and looking back leaves me in awe. I’m grateful for this life — both the business and the personal side — and I’m excited to keep working together, co-invest in brave founders, debate what’s coming next, and see which of our predictions come to life next year. Till then, let’s look at the last week of November!
What’s in today?
🚀 HARDTECH NEWS: Robotics & AI Innovations
🔬 STARTUPS FUNDING: Game-Changers in HardTech & AI
📚 FAVORITE RESOURCES
🎤 EVENTS — let’s meet in person!
👉 Feature your company in HardTech Reads
Nebius Robotics & Physical AI Awards is almost here!
Nebius Robotics & Physical AI Awards celebrate emerging startups and scale-ups that use AI to shape the future of the industry. Join us on December 9 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA.
About the Judging Committee
This year’s judging committee brings together leading investors, researchers, and industry pioneers from the world’s top robotics, AI, and deep-tech organizations. With expertise spanning humanoid systems, physical AI, venture investing, edge computing, and industrial automation, they will evaluate submissions with a focus on technical rigor, originality, and real-world impact.
🚀 HARDTECH NEWS: Robotics & AI Innovations
🏭 China’s 2M industrial robots, 🔋 Walker S2’s autonomous battery swapping, 🤖 Agile ONE humanoid, ✨ Tesla’s golden Optimus, 🚗 XPENG’s flying car factory, 🏀 China’s basketball-playing humanoid, 📦 MenteeBot’s warehouse autonomy, ⚛️ Valar Atomics’ Project Nova, ☢️ China’s thorium reactor, 🧑🚀 Soft robotic exosuit for space, 🚀 Blue Origin’s New Glenn landing, 📈 Samsung’s 60% memory chip price hike, 💰 Samsung’s $310B investment, 🤖 Google’s quantum roadmap, 🇨🇳 China’s robotaxi dominance, 🤖 MiR1200 pallet jack, 🚗 Tesla’s FSD rental program, ⚛️ IQM’s Halocene quantum computer, 📷 Zivid’s 3D camera, 🇺🇸 Trump’s Genesis Mission
🏭 China Deploys 2 Million Industrial Robots in “Dark Factories”
China now operates over 2 million industrial robots — more than every other country combined — with 300,000 new units deployed in 2024 compared to just 34,000 in US factories. Fully automated facilities are running 24/7 with minimal human oversight. This dual hardware-software advantage positions China to capture significant manufacturing and AI market share by the decade’s end.
🔋 Walker S2 Humanoid Achieves Autonomous Battery Swapping
ap its own battery, enabling continuous 24/7 operation without human intervention. This breakthrough in robot energy management makes large-scale factory deployment significantly more practical for continuous manufacturing processes.
🤖 Agile Robots Unveils Agile ONE Humanoid
The Munich-based company has unveiled the Agile ONE humanoid, featuring 21-DOF hans and fingertip force-torque sensors. The 174cm industrial assembly platform carries 20kg payloads, positioning Europe in the humanoid competition. While its walking gait lags behind U.S. and Chinese competitors, its precision manipulation and human collaboration capabilities are advancing.
✨ Tesla Unveils Golden Optimus Robot
Elon Musk revealed a new golden Optimus prototype that understands prompts and moves with smoother, more confident gestures.
The robot now taps Grok, the AI model from xAI, to understand questions and generate replies in real time. The hands have been redesigned with actuators in the forearm and cable systems that behave like tendons, mimicking human biomechanics for improved dexterity.
🚗 China Opens World’s First Flying Car Factory
XPENG has opened the world’s first flying car factory, signaling a huge leap toward the age of personal air travel. The company has secured orders for nearly 5,000 flying cars, with mass production and delivery scheduled for 2026.
🏀 China’s Humanoid Robot Plays Basketball Like a Pro
A Unitree G1 robot, nicknamed “Little Potato,” has landed a clean three-step layup, a notable leap in humanoid robot athleticism. The robot’s abilities come from SkillMimic, an AI framework from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology that studies human demonstrations and refines movements in virtual training.
📦 MenteeBot Humanoid Robots Work Autonomously in Warehouse
Mentee Robotics has released an unedited 18-minute video of two V3 MenteeBot humanoids working together in a real warehouse. The robots autonomously move 32 boxes from eight uneven piles to four storage racks, demonstrating real-world capability without remote control.
🤖Digit Milestone: Agility’s Robot Moves 100,000 Totes in GXO!
⚛️ Valar Atomics Achieves Zero-Power Criticality in Project Nova
Valar Atomics’ Project Nova core reached zero-power criticality, a critical milestone enabling commercial-scale, factory-built nuclear reactors for powering heavy industry, hydrogen production, and AI data centers. The achievement validates the company’s approach to modular, carbon-free energy infrastructure.
☢️ China Advances Thorium Fuel Cycle with Molten Salt Reactor
An experimental reactor in the Gobi Desert achieved thorium-to-uranium fuel conversion in a molten salt system requiring no water, bringing humanity closer to near-endless nuclear energy. The self-contained fuel fabrication eliminates external processing, enabling deployment in harsh environments.
🧑🚀 Soft Robotic Exosuit for Space Missions
University of Bristol researchers have developed soft robotic “space trousers” to reduce fatigue and support natural movement during lunar and Martian missions. Worn under spacesuits, the exosuit features artificial muscles and could evolve into rehabilitation and mobility aids for elderly and injured individuals on Earth.
🚀 Blue Origin Lands New Glenn Rocket Booster
Blue Origin successfully landed the 189-foot-tall New Glenn booster on a drone ship, a feat previously accomplished only by SpaceX. The recovery occurred on just the second launch of the New Glenn system, with the upper stage deploying twin spacecraft for a NASA Mars science expedition.
📈 Samsung Raises Memory Chip Prices 60%
Samsung has increased the prices of individual memory chips by up to 60% since September, driven by extreme demand for AI-focused data center buildouts. The shortage is expected to worsen through 2026 and potentially last a decade, impacting data center costs and electronics pricing.
💰 Samsung (again!) Commits $310B to Semiconductors, Batteries, & AI
Samsung announced a massive $310 billion capital deployment across semiconductor foundry expansion, advanced solid-state battery manufacturing, and AI data center infrastructure. The investment reflects Samsung’s strategic pivot to capture the AI infrastructure hardware boom.
🤖 Google Unveils Quantum Computing Roadmap Powered by Gemini AI
Google’s Quantum AI team released a five-stage roadmap emphasizing algorithmic breakthroughs and practical deployment over raw qubit count. The roadmap uses Gemini-powered LLMs to scan scientific literature and identify quantum solutions for real-world problems.
🇨🇳 Chinese Robotaxis Demonstrate Smooth Commercial Operations
Baidu, Pony AI, and WeRide each operate hundreds of robotaxis in China conducting paid services without human safety drivers. Their driverless technology and passenger experience now rival Waymo’s US operations, with China’s fleet projected to reach tens of thousands by year-end.
🤖 MiR1200 Pallet Jack Integrates AI-Powered Obstacle Detection
Mobile Industrial Robots’ latest offering incorporates advanced AI sensors and autonomous navigation to optimize warehouse and logistics operations. The MiR1200 can detect obstacles, navigate complex environments, and operate with minimal human intervention.
🚗 Tesla Launches In-House Rental Program with Free FSD
Tesla introduced an aggressive rental program offering vehicle rentals starting at $60 per day with free Supercharging and Full Self-Driving (FSD) software included. The program allows customers to test autonomous capabilities while potentially purchasing vehicles within the rental window.
⚛️ IQM Launches Halocene Quantum Computer Line
IQM Quantum Computers announced its new Halocene product line, featuring a 150-qubit quantum computer designed for quantum error correction research. The modular, on-premises system enables researchers to advance error correction capabilities and develop logical qubits.
📷 Zivid Launches Zivid 3 XL250 3D Camera
3D imaging leader Zivid released the Zivid 3 XL250, an advanced 3D camera with enhanced resolution and accuracy for robotic vision systems. The camera enables precise object recognition and bin picking in warehouse automation and manufacturing environments.
🇺🇸 President’s Administration Launches Genesis Mission
The White House issued an executive order establishing Genesis Mission, mobilizing Department of Energy supercomputers and federal datasets to tackle 20 major scientific challenges. The mission targets breakthroughs in fusion energy, semiconductor design, and biotech.
✨Trusted Tech Summit 2025
Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue — led by CEO Michelle Giuda — convened their 4th annual summit, where they launched the Global Trusted Tech Network, a free-world alliance designed to keep technology aligned with freedom. As part of the Summit, they recognized the 2025 Trusted Tech Leadership Award honorees: Atomic Industries, ReElement Technologies, Strider Technologies, and the Government of Sweden
🔬 STARTUPS FUNDING: Game-Changers in HardTech & AI
👉 Feature your company in HardTech Reads
➡️ BTRY AG is a Zurich-based startup advancing battery technology for clean energy applications. The company raised $5.7M in Seed funding led by Redstone VC, with participation from Bloomhaus Ventures, Linear Capital, Kickfund, and founders from CustomCells.
➡️ Buildroid AI is a San Francisco startup that integrates specialized and general-purpose robots into contractor workflows. The company raised $2M in Pre-Seed funding led by Tim Draper.
➡️ IonQ is a quantum computing pioneer that has acquired optical terminal manufacturer Skyloom to vertically integrate quantum computing with secure satellite communications. The acquisition represents a critical convergence of quantum entanglement-based secure communications and quantum computing infrastructure.
➡️ Flexion Robotics is a Zurich-based startup building a reinforcement-learning and sim-to-real platform that powers humanoid robots across multiple morphologies and tasks. The company raised $50M in Series A funding to accelerate development of its autonomy stack.
➡️ SF Compute operates a liquid marketplace for GPU capacity, allowing AI projects to rent high-end compute flexibly and resell unused capacity. The company raised $40M in Series A funding co-led by DCVC and Wing Venture Capital, with participation from Alt Capital.
➡️ IndustrialMind.ai is a manufacturing AI startup that uses AI to analyze production data and recommend process improvements, helping manufacturers reduce waste and increase throughput. The company raised $1.2M in Pre-Seed funding, backed by Tesla.
➡️ Valar Atomics is developing helium-cooled modular nuclear reactors designed to provide dedicated power at “gigasites” for AI data center expansion. The company raised $130M in Series A funding led by Snowpoint, with participation from Palmer Luckey and Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar.
➡️ Sakana AI is a Tokyo-based AI startup developing culturally and linguistically optimized AI models for Japan’s finance, defense, government, and manufacturing sectors. The company raised $135M in Series B funding (¥20 billion) at a $2.65B valuation, backed by MUFG, Khosla Ventures, Lux Capital, and others.
➡️ Kratos Defense & Security Solutions is a defense technology leader that completed a $356M acquisition of Orbit Technologies to consolidate end-to-end unmanned system capabilities across air, sea, undersea, and land vehicles.
➡️ York Space Systems is a satellite manufacturer that confidentially filed for IPO with $253M in annual recurring revenue, signaling strong demand for domestically produced smallsat manufacturing capacity.
➡️ Luma AI is a video generation AI platform that raised $900M in funding from Saudi Arabia’s Humain at a $4B valuation. Previous investors include a16z and Amplify Partners. Humain is building a 2GW compute cluster which Luma will access for model training.
➡️ Maritime Fusion is a San Francisco startup building a ship-based fusion reactor using high-temperature superconducting magnets. The company raised $4.5M in Seed funding led by Trucks VC, with participation from Aera VC, Alumni Ventures, Paul Graham, and Y Combinator.
➡️ NVIDIA Q3 FY26: Record $57B Revenue (+62% YoY) with Automotive/Robotics Sales +32%
NVIDIA reported record Q3 FY26 revenue of $57 billion, up 62% year-over-year, with automotive and robotics sales surging 32% to $592 million. Data center revenue reached $51.2 billion, driven by GPU demand for AI compute and AI model inference infrastructure globally.
📚FAVORITE RESOURCES
🎤EVENTS — Let’s meet in person!
🇯🇵 Dec 1–4 — Intl. Conference on Space Robotics (Sendai, Japan)
🤖 Dec 2–5 — ICAR 2025 — Intl. Conf. on Advanced Robotics (San Juan, Argentina)
🐼 Dec 3–7 — IEEE ROBIO 2025 — Robotics and Biomimetics (Chengdu, China)
🇯🇵 Dec 4–6 — ICCR 2025 — Int’l Conf. on Control and Robotics (Kyoto, Japan)
🇦🇪 Dec 8–12 — Deep Tech Week Dubai 2025
🦿 Dec 11–12 — Humanoid Summit (Mountain View, CA) — ping me if you are there!
🇸🇬 Dec 18–20 — RAAI 2025 — Robotics, Automation & AI (Singapore)
🇯🇵 Dec 19–21 — ICRAI 2025 — Robotics & AI (Nagoya, Japan)
🧠 Jan 11–16, 2026 — Robotics GRC — Embodied Intelligence in Robots and Animals (Ventura, CA, USA)
🇮🇹 Mar 26–28, 2026 — Robotics-2026 Summit (Rome, Italy)
🇯🇵 May, 2026 — Humanoids Summit (Tokyo, Japan — dates TBA) — Modar is taking it global!
🇦🇹 Jun 1–5, 2026 — ICRA 2026 — IEEE Intl. Conf. on Robotics & Automation (Vienna, Austria)
🤖 Jun 22–25, 2026 — Automate 2026 — Automation & Robotics Show (Chicago, IL, USA)
🇦🇺 Jul 13–17, 2026 — RSS 2026 — Robotics: Science and Systems (Sydney, Australia)
⚛️ Jan 28 — Deep Tech New York, NY
🇬🇧 Mar 16–19, 2026 — Intl. Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (Edinburgh, Scotland)
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👉 If you are interested in AI, Robotics & HardTech, check my previous posts:
➡️The Physical AI Revolution: Mapping the $60 Trillion Transformation
➡️19 Robotic Hands Startups to Watch
➡️ The world doesn’t fix itself. These startups are trying /Top 100 HardTech Startups
➡️ Will we have a chatGPT moment for Robots?
➡️ The Coming Scarcity of Humanity
➡️ The Art and Science of Venture Capital Investing
➡️ Deep Thinkers & Builders in Tech, Science and Bio
➡️ Humanoids Don’t Exist in Isolation / It Takes an Ecosystem to Bring Them to Life!
➡️ Clone Alpha: The Next Leap in Humanoid Robotics
➡️ ‘Made in China’-Robotics Market Overview
➡️ The Science of Networks: From Theory to New Realities
#AI #Robotics #HardTechReads #Startups #DeepTech #Automation
Outstanding curation of global robotics momentum—the Walker S2 autonomous battery swapping detail is particularly significant because energy management has been the quiet bottleneck in 24/7 humanoid deployment. What stands out is the shift from proof-of-concept videos to actual workload metrics: MenteeBot's unedited 18-minute warehouse run and Agility's 100K tote milestone represent the kind of transparent operational evidence the industry desperately needs. The emphasis on China's 2 million robots isn't just scale; its the coordinated hardware-software integration happening at the systems level, which compounds advantages much faster than isolated high-performance demos. One element worth amplifying: the European robotics ecosystem (Agile ONE, Flexion) is finally showing signs of structural coordination rather than fragmented research efforts. The manipulation dexterity focus might be their differentiation path if they can't match locomotion speed. Genuinely curious howregulatory divergence across markets will shape deployment timelines next year.