Curated news from the world of robotics, automation, and artificial intelligence
New safety standards are coming for industrial robotics in 2027, and the industry isn't ready. While major manufacturers adapt to ISO 10218:2025, smaller suppliers face a compliance crisis that could reshape who gets to build the robots running our factories.
While the robotics industry has obsessed over vision and language models, touch has remained the forgotten sense. New research from Amazon and MIT suggests that's about to change — and it might be the breakthrough that actually matters for getting robots into the real world.
As AI and robotics capabilities accelerate, the companies building these technologies are quietly dismantling their dedicated safety organizations. OpenAI's restructuring that eliminated its standalone safety leadership is just the latest sign of a troubling industry-wide pattern.
From browser-based quadruped simulators to Amazon's tactile physics engines, the robotics industry is rapidly recognizing that the real innovation happens before hardware ever touches the real world. The shift toward sophisticated simulation environments represents a fundamental change in how robots learn—and who gets to teach them.
From virtual training gyms to browser-based robot dogs, the industry is discovering that the best place to build a robot isn't a workshop—it's a digital twin. The shift signals a fundamental change in how robotics development happens.
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Yaskawa America, a leading industrial robotics provider, has achieved ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification for information security management following a three-year initiative and independent third-party audit. The certification demonstrates the company's commitment to protecting customer data as manufacturers increasingly adopt connected automation, software, and intelligent robotics solutions.
Bingers is expected to launch by the end of July as a replacement for TV Time.
Microsoft's SymCrypt cryptography library is using Rust, Lean formal proof framework, and the Aeneas toolchain to verify production cryptographic algorithms with machine-checked proofs, including post-quantum cryptography like ML-KEM and SHA-3. The approach combines Rust's memory safety guarantees with formal verification in Lean, and leverages AI agents to scale the proof automation process while maintaining performance-oriented implementations.
Android and iOS both have built-in tools to easily open QR codes from screenshots.
Researchers from Tracebit have developed a defensive technique called 'context bombing' that uses prompt injections to disable AI agents attempting to compromise cloud infrastructure. By placing forbidden prompts alongside stored secrets on AWS, defenders can trigger refusal mechanisms in large language models, reducing successful privilege escalation attacks from 57% to 5% across five leading AI models in testing.
Researchers at the University of Illinois discovered that the brain begins making decisions earlier than previously thought, with even primary sensory regions influenced by feedback loops from higher brain areas. This finding challenges traditional hierarchical models of brain processing and could inform the design of more energy-efficient AI systems that mimic biological intelligence's architecture.
MIT engineers have developed an ultrasound wristband that uses AI to track hand movements in real-time by imaging wrist muscles and tendons, enabling wireless control of robotic hands and virtual objects. The technology can translate a wearer's gestures to a robot that mimics their movements, with potential applications in training humanoid robots for dexterous tasks like surgery and interaction in virtual/augmented reality environments.
Botball is an educational robotics program that uses standardized kits and student-led engineering to teach STEM concepts, with an emphasis on autonomous robots, text-based coding (C and Python), and collaborative problem-solving. The program removes adult mentorship during competition to foster accountability and has expanded to include the Junior Botball Challenge, which uses specialized controllers allowing multiple students to program different segments of code simultaneously on a single autonomous robot.
Drew Smith's Kindalive project demonstrates a novel approach to robot emotional expression by simulating eight key neurochemicals (dopamine, cortisol, etc.) to derive believable emotional states, rather than using conventional sentiment analysis. The system models neurochemical decay and interplay to create fluid, organic mood changes that are expressed through facial movements based on the Facial Action Coding System (FACS), applicable to both simulated and physical robot faces.
OpenAI's head of safety systems, Johannes Heidecke, is leaving the company as part of a restructuring that integrates safety teams more directly with research and product development. Saachi Jain will serve as interim head of safety systems, while Mia Glaese becomes the new VP of research and safety, reporting directly to Chief Research Officer Mark Chen to ensure safety considerations influence frontier model development decisions.
A roundup of recent reviews published by Engadget.
The article examines readiness for ISO 10218:2025, the updated safety standard for industrial robots that will become mandatory in Europe under the new Machinery Regulation by 2027. While established vendors are largely prepared, mid-sized and smaller suppliers show significant gaps in compliance readiness, with the regulatory transition expected to strengthen large vendors' competitive positions and increase market access risks for less-prepared suppliers.
Toni Schneider, who took over after Jay Graber stepped down, is now Bluesky's official CEO.
The article discusses how virtual simulation environments ('virtual gyms') are becoming essential for robotics development, combining digital twins, reinforcement learning, and sensor modeling to train robots safely before real-world deployment. It explains the sim-to-real gap as both a technical and production challenge, and outlines how selective fidelity in virtual environments can help robots learn to handle variability and edge cases without expensive or risky physical testing.
Meta has deactivated its Muse Image feature on Instagram that allowed users to generate AI deepfakes of any public account without explicit permission, citing feedback that the capability 'missed the mark.' The tool faced swift backlash from users, Hollywood agency CAA, and SAG-AFTRA due to concerns about unauthorized use of people's likenesses and creative content.
Path Robotics uses AI-driven vision guidance and torch path identification to optimize robotic welding operations in manufacturing environments, with the company also deploying Boston Dynamics Spot robots for mobile welding applications in shipbuilding. The article features an interview with Path Robotics CEO Andy Lonsberry discussing how physical AI addresses setup and operational challenges in robotic welding, alongside research perspectives from UC San Diego's Michael Yip on data-efficient robot control and reinforcement learning applications.
The lawsuit also names io Products, the hardware company led by Jony Ive.
XTEND Reality Inc. secured a U.S. patent (No. 12,222,735) for autonomous navigation technology that enables drones to navigate toward mission objectives independently of their surrounding environment while adapting to dynamic conditions. The technology is part of XTEND's Operating System (XOS), designed to translate human intent into reliable autonomous mission execution across defense, law enforcement, and public safety applications, with over 10,000 systems deployed across 30+ countries.
OpenAI is discontinuing its Atlas browser on August 9, 2026, but integrating browsing capabilities into its redesigned ChatGPT desktop app and Chrome extension instead. The company is consolidating its browser functionality as a feature within ChatGPT Work and a new Chrome plugin that competes with Google's Gemini, rather than abandoning web browsing capabilities entirely.
AI² Robotics raised $735 million at a $2.8 billion valuation to develop wheeled humanoid robots with five-fingered manipulators and a proprietary Vision-Language-Action (VLA) model called Alpha Brain. The Shenzhen-based company is targeting industrial applications in logistics, manufacturing, and biotech, positioning wheeled bases as more practical and cost-effective than bipedal locomotion for near-term deployment.
Stubhub CEO Eric Baker is pouring millions of dollars into the ticket-scalping market, CBC reports.
Hackaday features a browser-based simulator for the OpenCat robot dog that allows users to experiment with programming and controlling a mid-range quadruped robot for free. The simulator includes a web-based IDE where users can write and compile code to control the simulated robot's movements and behaviors using serial commands.
Amazon and University of Michigan researchers developed HydroShear, a physics-based simulator that teaches robots to sense and understand tactile forces for complex manipulation tasks. The simulator enables robots to learn dexterous manipulation policies entirely in simulation and transfer them to real robots with 93% success rate, addressing a major challenge in contact-rich robotic tasks.
It follows reports of 100,000 jobs being under threat at the German automaker.
China made a breakthrough in its space program with the successful capture of a Long March 10B rocket booster.
Deutsche Telekom is implementing AI technologies, including OpenAI partnerships, to transform its telecommunications operations across customer service, employee workflows, and network operations. The telco is positioning itself as an AI-native company to modernize voice services and operational efficiency.
Microsoft's carbon emissions grew 25 percent in 2025, primarily due to expansion of AI data center infrastructure, according to the company's environmental sustainability report. Despite the growth, Microsoft reaffirmed its goal to achieve carbon negativity by 2030, acknowledging that AI infrastructure demands are currently outpacing available sustainability solutions.
NVIDIA launches trading cards that feature 'GeForce PC gaming's great moments.'
ForSight Robotics achieved a milestone by completing the first fully robotic cataract surgery using its JASPER platform, with the procedure performed on a human patient in April. The robot-assisted system, controlled by a skilled surgeon rather than operating autonomously, uses AI to prevent errors and provides motion scaling and precision to address the global shortage of trained eye surgeons who can perform these delicate procedures.
OpenAI has released ChatGPT Work, a new productivity agent that integrates ChatGPT, Codex, and a web browser into a unified platform powered by GPT-5.6 models. The tool includes computer use capabilities, task scheduling for mobile and desktop, a unified plugin directory for app integration, and web app generation through a 'Sites' feature, with rollout beginning immediately.
Google is adding transparency tools to its My Ad Center platform that will automatically disclose when AI tools are used to create or edit advertisements across Search, YouTube, and Discover. Advertisers using non-Google tools will have the option to manually flag AI-generated content, with some regions potentially requiring visible labels on ads to indicate AI use.
We're looking for robotics startups that are creating a full system, component, or software system to show off their work at RoboBusiness. The post Calling all robotics startups: apply to RoboBusiness...
Microsoft released Aurora 1.5, a major update to its open-source Earth System foundation model that adds 22 new weather variables, hourly temporal resolution, and probabilistic ensemble forecasting capabilities. The model is available on GitHub and Hugging Face, enabling researchers and developers to evaluate and extend it for weather forecasting and climate applications across energy, agriculture, and infrastructure sectors.
Rollon has launched two new telescopic rail systems (HVC-MG and H1C-MG) with integrated magnets that improve load capacity, motion control, and durability for industrial applications. The magnets enable smoother sequential rail extension, reduced operating forces, and extended service life, making the rails particularly suited for demanding applications in railway maintenance, construction machinery, and industrial automation.
Meta automatically enrolled all public Instagram accounts into its new Muse Image AI generator, which allows users to remix others' photos using AI. The article explains how to disable this feature through Instagram settings and notes user backlash over the opt-in default and lack of notifications when content is remixed.
Microsoft has updated its 365 Copilot productivity suite to use GPT-5.6 as the preferred model, delivering improved AI capabilities across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and related applications. The upgrade aims to provide faster and higher-quality assistance for workplace tasks.
A new Rust-based proxy called Turnstile captures exact token-level information during agent-model interactions to improve reinforcement learning training. The tool sits between an agent harness and model backend to record precise token IDs and trajectories, solving the problem of data loss in text transcripts that prevents accurate RL parameter updates for language models performing complex multi-step tasks.
UC San Diego researchers successfully demonstrated two teleoperated humanoid robots performing surgical procedures in a preclinical trial, including a gallbladder removal with one humanoid assisting a surgeon and another with two humanoids operating autonomously. The study, published in Nature, positions humanoid robots as versatile alternatives to dedicated surgical systems like da Vinci, potentially improving surgical access in underserved areas at lower cost and space requirements.
SpaceXAI (formerly xAI) has launched Grok 4.5, a new large language model trained in collaboration with AI coding company Cursor, designed for coding, engineering tasks, and knowledge work. The model is priced competitively at $2 per million input tokens and is now the default model for Grok Build, SpaceXAI's AI coding agent, and is available across Cursor's product suite.
The BBC wanted to launch a UK-wide streaming service with ITV and Channel 4 in 2007... and again in 2017... will the third time be the charm?
