Humanoid robots or human connection? What Elon Musk's Optimus reveals about our AI ambitions
When Elon Musk talks about robotics, he rarely hides the ambition behind the dream.
Jan 12, 2026
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Humanoid robotics investigates the design, control, and deployment of robots with humanlike bodies and behaviors for physical, social, and cognitive tasks. Work in this area spans locomotion and manipulation, learning from human demonstrations, and integration with large language models and generative AI for natural-language-guided behavior. Researchers study social and affective dimensions of human-robot interaction, including mind perception, trust, comfort, and cultural variation, as well as applications in caregiving, therapy, domestic assistance, surgery, manufacturing, and public spaces, alongside safety, regulation, and labor impacts.
Robotics
When Elon Musk talks about robotics, he rarely hides the ambition behind the dream.
Jan 12, 2026
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34
Robotics
When Aaron Tan began his Ph.D. in mechanical and industrial engineering at the University of Toronto in 2019, leading a robotics startup in Silicon Valley was the furthest thing from his mind.
Jan 10, 2026
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Consumer & Gadgets
Exoskeletons are shedding their bulky, sci-fi image to become lightweight, AI-powered consumer devices that manufacturers hope will become as commonplace as smartwatches, targeting everyone from hikers to seniors seeking ...
Jan 8, 2026
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Robotics
Two robots the size of schoolchildren stepped into the ring at BattleBots Arena.
Jan 8, 2026
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Robotics
Humanoid robots danced, somersaulted, dealt blackjack and played ping-pong at the Consumer Electronics Show this week, but some in the industry are impatient for them to become more useful, not just a promise of things to ...
Jan 8, 2026
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Consumer & Gadgets
Sure, Nvidia, AMD and Intel all had important chip and AI platform announcements on the first day of CES 2026, but all audiences wanted to see more of was Star Wars and Jensen Huang's little robot buddies.
Jan 6, 2026
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Robotics
Hyundai-owned Boston Dynamics publicly demonstrated its humanoid robot Atlas for the first time Monday at the CES tech showcase, ratcheting up a competition with Tesla and other rivals to build robots that look like people ...
Jan 6, 2026
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Consumer & Gadgets
With the start of the New Year squarely behind us, it's once again time for the annual CES trade show to shine a spotlight on the latest tech that companies plan to offer in 2026.
Jan 5, 2026
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Robotics
Robots are becoming part of our everyday lives, from health care to home assistance. But for humans to truly trust and collaborate with them, robots need more than technical skill—they need to understand us.
Dec 23, 2025
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Computer Sciences
You might have seen headlines sounding the alarm about the safety of an emerging technology called agentic AI.
Dec 23, 2025
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