Agility Robotics secures $400 million funding at $1.75 billion valuation as its 5-foot-9-inch humanoid robot Digit gains enhanced battery life, autonomous charging, and improved grasping capabilities while competing for warehouse automation dominance against rivals in the rapidly expanding humanoid robotics market.
Chinese companies employ various tactics, including smuggling, exploiting loopholes, leveraging subsidiaries, utilizing cloud services, and innovating with alternative chips, to circumvent U.S. restrictions on advanced semiconductor technology.
Agility Robotics raised a staggering $400 million to scale its humanoid robot Digit, fueling the race to automate physically demanding tasks across industries with its bipedal robot designed for real-world utility like package delivery and warehouse work alongside humans.
President Trump has threatened to impose escalating tariffs on a wide range of industries, including automobiles, pharmaceuticals, lumber, semiconductors, and oil and gas imports from countries dealing with Venezuela, signaling plans for more sweeping trade duties.
Nine EU nations are accelerating efforts to bolster Europe's semiconductor industry, aiming to unveil proposals by summer for a new funding program that addresses gaps in chip packaging and production, while boosting demand to attract company investments.
MagicLab's advanced humanoid robot impressively strode outdoors for 4 minutes, exhibiting human-like gait and terrain adaptability, paving the way for its deployment in industrial settings like inspections, material handling, and warehousing.
Figure unveiled BotQ, a groundbreaking robot factory capable of mass-producing up to 12,000 humanoid robots annually, leveraging redesigned robot architecture, optimized manufacturing processes, integrated robots and AI, and a hybrid workforce to revolutionize scalable and cost-effective humanoid production.
Volkswagen's annual operating profit plunges 15% to $352.8 billion in 2024 due to surging costs and restructuring expenses, but the automaker braces for potential U.S. tariffs while operating a major factory in Tennessee and projecting up to 5% revenue growth in 2025.
Chinese battery maker Gotion faced local backlash and political divide over plans for a factory in Michigan due to concerns about its Chinese ownership and alleged environmental risks, leading to protests and the ouster of supportive officials, though it proceeded with plans for a $2 billion factory in Illinois.
Google's co-founder Larry Page has launched Dynatomics, an AI startup aiming to revolutionize product design and manufacturing by leveraging advanced algorithms to optimize processes, led by Chris Anderson, former CTO of Page's electric airplane venture Kittyhawk.