22 May 2026
Physical AI Is Already Here. But What Is It?
You may have seen it: a humanoid robot moonwalking across a stage to Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” before slipping several times on a set of steps and lying motionless. The video, filmed in Shenzhen, China, has taken social media by storm this week. The scene may well augur a future in which robots imitate, perform and work alongside humans. That’s because it is an early example of what many…
22 May 2026
China puts humanoid robots through tea harvesting field trials
Humanoid robots have moved from lab demos to running tracks and now into tea fields in China as teams participating in the 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games began a real-world robotics challenge in Fujian Province’s tea-growing region.
22 May 2026
Watch Atlas Lift and Spin Like a Pro in This Week's Video Friday
Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your friends at IEEE Spectrum robotics. We also post a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next few months. Please send us your events for inclusion.
22 May 2026
This Wall Street tech bull says he expects SpaceX and Tesla to merge in 2027
SpaceX's historic IPO is dominating headlines, but some on Wall Street say there could be another major change ahead for one of Elon Musk's other companies.
22 May 2026
China rolls out 100 humanoid robots into employee homes this month
A hundred humanoid robots are about to move into homes in Wuhan, China. Not as roommates, exactly, but close enough to make it weird. GigaAI, working alongside the Hubei Humanoid Robot Innovation Centre and the Hubei Humanoid Robotics Industry Alliance, launched the SeeLight S1 on May 21.
22 May 2026
AGIBOT’s humanoid robot steals the show with dance, calligraphy at cultural event
Chinese firm AGIBOT showcased its advanced humanoid robot during a cultural event in Jakarta, Indonesia, on May 21.
22 May 2026
Space X IPO shows Musk has found cheat code for capitalism
Would you buy an AI company that's actually a space company from this man? Probably.
21 May 2026
The SF gathering that summed up the ruthless class war billionaires are waging
Recently, my partner told me about a 1973 short story by Ursula K. Le Guin called “ The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas .” It’s about a utopian city where hedonistic residents live in peace, abundance and harmony among its rollicking meadows and hillsides. But these same euphoric citizens harbor a shameful secret that they refuse to acknowledge: In order to maintain their bountiful harvest, their…
21 May 2026
Job training for robots: How China is getting machines ready to join the workforce
Chinese technology consultant Kenneth Ren is training the workers of the future. The only thing is, they are not human. "We are essentially teaching robots to think on their own," Ren, an overseas solution expert with RealMan Intelligent Technology told CNBC recently at the Beijing-based Humanoid Robot Data Training Center.
