Sovereign AI Clash in U.S. Statecraft
The U.S. is peddling sovereign AI abroad—and partners fear the guarantee on risk just won't hold. The Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) highlights a growing fault line in American AI diplomacy: Washington is promoting “sovereign AI” abroad by offering deployment control through Amer
Apple Preps Five-Product March Blitz
Apple is lining up a five-product wave in a three-day March blitz. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says Apple will unveil at least five products in a tightly choreographed push starting March 2 and running through March 4, with an in-person “Apple Experience” set for New York, London, and Shanghai on the fi
Beijing's subsidies shift to robot components
Beijing is steering subsidies to the gears, not the robots. The MiIT and state media are signaling a policy reorientation: funds and favorable programs that once buoyed end-assembly lines appear to be flowing toward the components that actually power autonomous production—robot motors, drives, senso
Sony WF-1000XM6: Not Quite Best in Class
Sony’s flagship earbuds aren’t the best in class anymore. Engadget’s latest round-up puts the WF-1000XM6 in the familiar lanes of “great-sounding, sometimes muddled by some real-world tradeoffs.” The review recap notes two sticking points that keep the XM6 from a clean sweep: ANC performance and voi
NAPA Bets Big on AI Robotic Fulfillment
NAPA is banking on AI-powered robots to move parts faster in its distribution network. Brightpick, a known provider of AI-driven warehouse automation, announced on February 20, 2026 a strategic partnership with NAPA to deploy Brightpick’s robotic systems across NAPA’s distribution centers. The move
Fingerprint Chips for Robots: No Servers Needed
A chip’s secret fingerprint now travels with it—no server required. MIT engineers have demonstrated a manufacturing method that creates a shared, unforgeable fingerprint across two chips, enabling direct, mutual authentication without storing secret data on a remote server. The approach, built into
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Microsoft Seeks a Truth Protocol to Curb Online Deception
Microsoft just laid out a blueprint to prove what’s real online. The tech giant’s AI safety team has been digging into how we document digital manipulation and how to prove authenticity at scale. In a plan shared with MIT Technology Review, Microsoft evaluated current methods for flagging and docume
Microsoft’s plan to prove what’s real online
Microsoft bets on a digital passport for truth online. A new blueprint from the company aims to separate real from AI-generated deception by standardizing how online content carries verifiable provenance. In a briefing shared with MIT Technology Review, Microsoft’s AI safety researchers outline a pa
Microsoft Unveils Blueprint to Prove What's Real Online
Microsoft just unveiled a blueprint to prove what's real online, a direct response to AI-enabled deception that now drifts through feeds with alarming plausibility. The plan, shared with MIT Technology Review and rooted in the company’s AI safety research, asks: how do we document digital manipulati
Industrial Robotics
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Swiss Plant Goes 100-Robot Skypod Leap
Over 100 Skypod robots are live at Luterbach—nothing moves like it. Dosenbach-Ochsner, the Swiss sportswear and equipment retailer owned by the Deichmann Group, has turned its Luterbach site in the canton of Solothurn into a high-density intralogistics showcase. The Exotec Skypod system, acclaimed f
What we’re watching next in industrial
Cobots are proving the skeptics wrong—the payback comes faster than planners expect. Industrial outlets are threading a single, stubborn needle: automation isn’t a buzzword, it’s a deployment discipline with real ballast. Across Automation World, Control Engineering, and Supply Chain Dive, the drumb
Toyota Canada deploys Digit humanoid to boost ops
Toyota Canada is putting a humanoid on the factory floor after a successful pilot. Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada has signed a commercial agreement with Agility Robotics to deploy Digit, the general-purpose humanoid, in its facilities to support manufacturing, supply chain, and logistics operatio
Brightpick Expands with NAPA Automotive Partnership
Brightpick’s AI-powered robots are moving into NAPA’s warehouses, signaling a serious push into the automotive aftermarket logistics space. The announcement says Brightpick will deploy its autonomous picking and sorting technology across NAPA’s distribution centers, aiming to squeeze more throughput
Humanoids
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Adam Shines in Spring Humanoid Showcase
Adam sprinted and danced through spring—no humans needed. In IEEE Spectrum’s weekly Video Friday roundup, PNDbotics’ Adam stands out as the humanoid centerpiece, turning springtime into a tightly choreographed test of balance, timing, and torque. The montage says what every robotics engineer suspect
Digital Twins Cut Robot Drive Development
Virtual commissioning just got real—NORD's digital twins cut weeks from development. NORD Drivesystems has rolled out digital twins for system development, targeting robotics developers who want to validate drive concepts before a single hardware prototype ships. The platform, built around a myNORD
Apptronik Raises $520M, Valuation Tops $5B
Apptronik just closed a $520 million Series A extension, vaulting its total funding to $935 million and valuing the humanoid startup at more than $5 billion—an amount that would have sounded audacious a few years ago and now looks increasingly plausible to investors hungry for automation of the “unr
What we’re watching next in humanoids
Humanoid demos are finally moving under their own power, but “ready for real work” remains a stubborn cliff. A trio of recent reports from IEEE Spectrum Robotics, The Robot Report, and Boston Dynamics’ own materials paints a consistent picture: labs are iterating on gait, balance, and manipulation,
Consumer Tech
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Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2026: AI-First S26 Debuts
Samsung bets AI will redefine the flagship with the S26. The company has locked in its first Galaxy Unpacked of 2026 for February 25 in San Francisco, with a keynote set for 10 a.m. PT. Official invites went out on February 10, and, as usual, Samsung won’t spill every bean ahead of time. The compan
Sony WF-1000XM6 Fails to Outshine Rivals
Sony’s flagship earbuds don’t truly stand out, despite the hype around the XM6’s halo of features. In hands-on reviews summarized by Engadget, the XM6 lands with a familiar premium price and an expectation that it will tighten Sony’s hold on the top of the wireless-earbud ladder. The verdict from te
Robot Vacuums Tap Top Spots in 2026 Lab Tests
Two robot vacuums just earned a CNET Lab Award for 2026. That accolade isn’t just marketing fluff—these machines aced tests for pickup power, navigation, and obstacle avoidance in real homes. CNET’s latest lab roundup evaluated dozens of robots on how well they pick up dirt on carpets and hard floor
Samsung's AI-First Galaxy S26 Debut
Samsung kicks off 2026 with an AI-first Galaxy S26 reveal. The company has set February 25 in San Francisco as the date for its first Unpacked of the year, promising “a new phase in the era of AI as intelligence becomes truly personal and adaptive.” Official invites went out on February 10, and whil
China Robotics & AI
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RoboSense's Robotic LiDAR Push Sparks Profit Forecast
RoboSense just forecast its first quarterly profit, powered by robotics LiDAR. Shares of the Hong Kong-listed RoboSense (2498.HK) jumped as much as 15% in early trading on February 20, 2026 after the company issued a profit alert that it would report no less than RMB 60 million of net profit for Q4
RoboSense Forecasts First Quarterly Profit on Robotics LiDAR
RoboSense just flagged its first quarterly net profit, forecasting at least RMB 60 million as robotics LiDAR sales explode. The Hong Kong-listed company, ticker 2498.HK, said in a February 2026 profit alert that it expects Q4 2025 to deliver a net profit of no less than RMB 60 million, signaling a m
RoboSense Surges on Robotics LiDAR Growth
RoboSense forecast its first quarterly net profit as robotics LiDAR demand surged 1,142% year-on-year. The Hong Kong-listed sensor specialist, ticker 2498.HK, said it expects a fourth-quarter 2025 net profit of no less than RMB 60 million, a turning point signaled by a year of accelerating sales ac
Analysis
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Sovereign AI Statecraft: Assurance vs. Independence
Partners want sovereign AI; Washington offers a warranty instead. The sovereignty gap in U.S. AI statecraft has become a central fault line in how nations decide who controls the future of adaptive technology. In a Lawfare-published op-ed, Center for Security and Emerging Technology analyst Pablo Ch
Sovereign AI Gap Tests U.S. Statecraft
Allies demand guardrails on AI, and Washington can't promise them all. The United States is leaning into a concept it calls “sovereign AI” abroad—offering deployment control through American technology—while many countries push to insulate themselves from external policy influence and reduce relianc
What we’re watching next in other
A wave of AI rules is cresting in Washington. Regulators are turning talk into texture. The Federal Register is lighting up with AI-related notices, signaling a shift from debate to potential mandates, even as other bodies publish guardrails and guidance. Meanwhile, NIST’s latest AI risk-management
Sovereignty Gap in U.S. AI Statecraft
The U.S. is selling sovereignty in AI abroad, promising deployment control through American tech while partners chase independence to curb U.S. policy leverage. Policy analysts say the core tension isn’t about who builds the code, but who can steer it once it’s deployed. In a Lawfare op-ed published
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