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Anahita Laverack initially aimed for a career in aerospace engineering, but her journey took an unexpected path after participating in an autonomous robotics challenge. Motivated by the difficulties faced in the Microtransat Challenge, where contestants build autonomous sail-powered micro-robots to cross the Atlantic, she realized the scarcity of reliable ocean data was a major obstacle.…

Nearly two years ago, Motional faced a critical juncture in its journey toward autonomous vehicle development. Originating from a substantial joint venture between Hyundai Motor Group and Aptiv, the company had missed a crucial deadline for launching a driverless robotaxi service in partnership with Lyft. The withdrawal of Aptiv as a financial supporter necessitated an…

Google DeepMind is collaborating with Boston Dynamics to equip humanoid robots with the advanced intelligence necessary to navigate unfamiliar surroundings and handle objects—a key step toward enabling these machines to perform manual labor. This partnership, unveiled at CES in Las Vegas, involves integrating Google’s Gemini Robotics model into several Boston Dynamics robots, including the humanoid…

If 2025 was the year when AI underwent a critical evaluation, then 2026 is expected to be the period when the technology becomes genuinely practical. The emphasis is shifting away from creating ever-larger language models and focusing instead on the more challenging task of enabling AI to be truly usable. This means deploying more appropriately…

On Wednesday, Cisco disclosed that a faction of Chinese government-backed hackers is exploiting a critical vulnerability to target its enterprise clients using some of its most widely deployed products. The company has not specified how many of its customers have already fallen victim to these intrusions or how many might be operating vulnerable systems. Security…

In Rivian’s Palo Alto office cafeteria, an autonomous robot initially navigated smoothly past chilled canned coffee shelves but soon got stuck, needing a man’s assistance while its screen displayed the message “I’m stuck.” This small incident set the stage for Rivian’s “Autonomy & AI Day,” an event highlighting the company’s ambition to develop vehicles capable…

1X, a robotics company, has identified significant potential buyers for its consumer-focused humanoid robots within the portfolio companies of one of its investors. The company revealed a strategic partnership intended to distribute thousands of its humanoid robots to the portfolio companies of EQT, a major Swedish multi-asset investor, whose venture fund EQT Ventures supports 1X.…

In recent years, AI has demonstrated remarkable capabilities in generating text, images, videos, and even computer code. Now, a new frontier is emerging with the development of generative tools designed to create entire immersive 3D environments, often referred to as world models. These models aim to simulate virtual worlds complete with physical laws and interactive…

California regulators have introduced updated rules that would enable companies to test and ultimately deploy self-driving trucks on public highways across the state. The California Department of Motor Vehicles, the body responsible for overseeing autonomous vehicle regulation, has opened a 15-day public comment period on these revisions, which will conclude on December 18. While California…

The City of Cape Town has successfully modernized its digital systems through a partnership with First Technology Group, reshaping how municipal staff work and serve 5 million residents. For years, outdated technology created barriers to productivity and collaboration. By 2021, the situation became critical—the city’s previous enterprise agreement had lapsed in 2016, forcing continued use…