July 2026 marked a pivotal month for robotics, defined by substantial funding, technological breakthroughs, and significant U.S. policy shifts. AI² Robotics secured $735 million, reaching a $2.8 billion valuation, while Walden Robotics emerged from stealth with $300 million at a $1.1 billion valuation. London-based Humanoid introduced KinetIQ Ascend for high-reliability manipulation, and AMD unveiled its Kria module for real-time control. Apptronik launched Apollo 2 and expanded its Austin training facility. Weave Robotics released Isaac 1, a consumer [...]

Unitree Robotics, a leading Chinese embodied‑AI startup based in Hangzhou, received approval from China’s securities regulator on July 1 to register for an IPO on Shanghai’s STAR Market. The approval clears a regulatory hurdle but does not set the offering price, subscription window, or trading date. The company’s prospectus seeks to raise roughly RMB 4.2 billion, earmarking funds for AI model research, robot‑body development, new product launches, and a smart‑robot manufacturing base. Unitree specializes in quadruped and humanoid robots and [...]

In November 2025, a Figure 03 humanoid completed an eleven‑month stint at BMW’s Spartanburg plant, working ten‑hour shifts, moving over 90,000 sheet‑metal parts, and helping assemble more than 30,000 X3 crossovers—data confirmed by Figure AI and unchallenged by BMW. On July 22, 2026, Tesla’s Q2 earnings call revealed no Optimus units had entered production, despite Musk’s earlier claims of thousands by 2025; the company cited supply‑chain challenges and the difficulty of scaling a wholly new product. Meanwhile, Unitree Robotics’ IPO [...]

Google DeepMind has launched Gemini Robotics 2, a trio of AI models that grant humanoid and other robots enhanced whole‑body autonomy, dexterity, and multi‑robot collaboration. Demonstrated on Apptronik’s Apollo 2, the system enables the robot to walk, crouch, bend, and manipulate objects while reasoning through tasks in real time. Gemini Robotics 2 extends prior work by coordinating movements from feet to fingertips, supporting five‑fingered SharpaWave hands and industrial grippers, and allowing different robot types to communicate on complex workflows. The platform can [...]

RoshAi, founded in 2021 by former TCS robotics head Roshy John and CTO Rajaram Moorthy, offers retrofit drive‑by‑wire kits and a Level‑4 autonomy software stack that can convert existing diesel or electric trucks into self‑driving units for closed environments such as ports, mines and factory yards. The company’s “Android for autonomy” model licenses the software to OEMs and fleet operators while the hardware attaches to vehicles already in service, avoiding the cost of new chassis. RoshAi claims [...]

German robotics firm KUKA AG announced the rollout of its Automation Management Platform (AMP) at the KUKA Toledo Production Operations (KTPO) in Ohio. AMP fuses traditional industrial automation with AI‑driven decision‑making, linking existing control systems to next‑generation, data‑centric technologies. The 335,000‑square‑foot plant, which builds more than 300 vehicle bodies daily for Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator models, houses 285 robots and over 60,000 connected devices, generating massive production data streams. By deploying AMP, KUKA aims to convert that [...]

Alphabet’s Google DeepMind announced Gemini Robotics 2, a new AI model that enables humanoid robots to coordinate full-body movements, from walking to object manipulation, by integrating vision, language, and motor control. The system builds on the 2025 Gemini Robotics release and allows robots to reason, plan multi-step tasks, and adapt to human environments. In a demonstration, the model guided an Apptronik Apollo robot to navigate a room, pick up a watering can, and place it on a shelf. Gemini Robotics ER 2 [...]