Samsung hikes Galaxy S26 prices by $100
The Galaxy S26 lineup just got a $100 price bump. Samsung pulled the future-forward play early, debuting the Galaxy S26, S26+, and S26 Ultra at Unpacked in San Francisco, plus Galaxy Buds 4 and a slate of AI updates. The move is blunt: the base S26 and its larger sibling now start at $900 and $1,100
Beijing AI storage maker seeks HKIPO
Beijing’s data lake specialist XSKY has filed for a Hong Kong listing, signaling another shift in the capital-raising path for China’s AI infrastructure players as the country scales its cloud and AI ambitions. Founded in 2015 by Xu Xin and Wang Haomai, XSKY positions itself as an independent distri
The Automation Buy: Who Delivers ROI?
Manufacturers buy automation and then race to prove the dollars add up. The trick isn’t finding a pretty demo; it’s lining up the long, stubborn chain of real-world requirements that sit between a PowerPoint slide and a working line. A recent industry thread points to a simple reality: robotic and b
Ambient Dreamie: Sleep Without Your Phone
Sleep finally wins — a $250 alarm clock. Ambient’s Dreamie bedside companion arrives with a bold pitch: a phone-free path to better sleep, built into a single device you don’t need to unlock your phone to use. Unveiled for CES and now shaping up for a spring launch, Dreamie juggles the functions of
SenseTime Spin-off Targets Factory Floors with TX01
A SenseTime offshoot bets wheeled humanoids will run the factory line. Shenzhen Tianyuanxing Technology Co., Ltd. (Tianyuanxing) has closed an angel round worth tens of millions of yuan, led by Hongde Investment, Shengshi Hongyuan, and Haiyuan Capital. The company—born from SenseTime’s industrial ro
Chinese Humanoids Head to Seoul Expo
Five Chinese humanoid makers are descending on Seoul next week to show what they can actually deploy, not just dream about. Automation World in Seoul will host a China Humanoid Conference component, bringing AGIBOT, Fourier, Huawei, Leju, and Unitree to the expo floor alongside AW 2026’s broader sh
AI & Machine Learning
More
Donut Lab's Solid-State Claim Stirs Skepticism
A Finnish startup says it has a scalable solid-state battery ready for mass production—and experts want to see proof. Donut Lab released a stream of claims and a video-driven proof plan last month, arguing that its solid-state cells pack fast charging, high energy density, and safe operation across
Reality Obsessions Signal Media's Cozy Tech Shift
Reality TV and a swap group are reshaping tech journalism. Juliet Beauchamp, a Technology Review journalist, is not chasing the newest model of AI hardware or a fresh benchmark—she’s chasing human moments. In a profile published February 25, 2026, Beauchamp lays out three current obsessions: The Re
Earth's Hidden Bassline: Infrasound Album
Earth's inaudible rumble just went musical: 24 hours distilled into 24 minutes. A new album turns the planet’s deepest whispers into a bass-forward soundtrack, using science-grade sensors to capture signals humans can’t hear and then speeding them up until they groove. Everyday Infrasound in an Unce
Crime Tech at a Crossroads
AI is already making online crime easier. The latest issue of MIT Technology Review’s The Download arrives with a blunt thesis: crime isn’t some distant novelty tech problem anymore. It’s a moving target powered by the same innovations that accelerate legitimate security, governance, and consumer se
Industrial Robotics
More
New Normal: Workplace Automation Redefined
Automation research just rewrote the factory playbook. The story sweeping through factories and offices alike, as captured by a Robotics & Automation News feature, is not a flashy demo but a shift in how work is designed, funded, and measured. The new normal isn’t about a shiny cobot on a pedestal;
Third-Party Integrators Make Automation Payback Real
Automation ROI starts with the right partner, not the robot. Manufacturers are shifting automation procurement away from “buy a cobot and hope for the best” to enlisting third-party specialists who can design, implement, and sustain a full automation program. The primary trend cited in industry cove
Water Systems Drive Factory Uptime Gains
A water-treatment upgrade in a mature automation line slashed unplanned downtime and quietly reshaped the CFO’s spreadsheet. Production data shows that in advanced manufacturing, water isn’t a backdrop; it’s a precision resource that can make or break an automated cell. The article notes that indust
Predictive Maintenance Robots Slash Downtime: ROI in Months
Downtime is collapsing as predictive maintenance robots learn fast. Predictive maintenance robotics is reshaping asset reliability, moving plants away from reactive fixes and rigid schedules toward intelligent, data-driven upkeep. Production data shows that organizations are trading patchwork inspec
Humanoids
More
What we’re watching next in humanoids
Google folds Intrinsic into its robotics arm—software-first robotics, finally. Alphabet’s Intrinsic has quietly stepped back into the Google fold, moving from an independent Alphabet unit to a Google-wide domain. The move, reported after nearly five years of standalone operation, signals more than a
AI2 Robotics raises $145M to push AlphaBot forward
AlphaBot just bagged $145M to chase general-purpose humanoids. The robot-reality check comes early with AI2 Robotics’s latest Series B, CN¥1.2 billion (about $144.7 million), earmarked to push its AlphaBot platform from lab bench to more capable, real-world work. Shenzhen-based founder Dr. Yangdong
AlphaBot Raises $145M to Chase Universal Humanoids
AI2's AlphaBot just got a $145 million boost toward universal humanoids. The round, CN¥1.2 billion, positions Shenzhen-based AI² Robotics to push its AlphaBot line from experimental platforms toward broadly usable, general-purpose robots. The company’s founder, Dr. Yangdong Eric Guo, frames AlphaBot
Tesollo Unveils Compact 20-DoF Hand
Tesollo’s 20-DoF hand is shipping—finally, a real do-it-all gripper. Tesollo has officially commercialized its lightweight, compact humanoid hand—the DG-5F-S—marking a rare moment where a vendor moves from prototypes to a true product for humanoid systems. The device is pitched as a trimmed-down evo
Consumer Tech
More
Budget cameras still punch above their weight in 2026
Budget cameras finally punch above their weight—under $750. Even as tariffs nudge hardware prices higher, consumers can still snag capable options without blowing the budget. The current landscape for 2026 centers on a few clear paths: Canon’s R50 for speed, Sony’s ZV-E10 for vlog-style storytelling
Gemini Goes Live on Pixel and Galaxy
Your next pizza order could be handled by your phone's AI. Google and Samsung are rolling out agentic AI features under Gemini that aim to turn your smartphone into a multitask manager, not just a voice assistant. The company demoing the capability showed Gemini taking care of a multi-step task—orde
Gemini AI Agents Hit Pixel 10 and Galaxy S26
Gemini's AI on phones can order food and hail rides—no hands required. Google and Samsung are pushing a new era of on-device AI that promises to juggle multi-step tasks across busy days, starting with the Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, and the newly announced Samsung Galaxy S26. In a demo that sounded stra
What we’re watching next in consumer
Smart-home AI just moved in—and it's charging rent. Testing shows a quiet, undeniable shift: devices once pitched as standalone gadgets increasingly rely on cloud-powered features that demand ongoing subscriptions and sign-ins. From cameras and speakers to robotic vacuums and smart hubs, the AI that
China Robotics & AI
More
AGIBOT Lands in Germany, Bets on Europe
AGIBOT just parked a humanoid in Munich—Europe’s factory floor is getting a Chinese upgrade. In a Munich press event on February 24, AGIBOT rolled out its full lineup of general-purpose embodied robots and system-level solutions tailored for the German market, while signing a strategic cooperation a
Rsemi Lands Strategic Financing for Auto SerDes
Rsemi just landed strategic financing to scale in-vehicle SerDes. Rsemi, a Beijing-based automotive-chip designer founded in 2022, announced a strategic financing round led by SAIC Capital and its Shangqi Capital unit, with participation from Tianhong Capital, Qian Investment, and other industrial b
Alipay AI Pay Reaches 100M Users, Shaping Shopping
AI Pay just crossed 100 million users, turning chats into checkout. Alipay disclosed that its AI Pay product, built to enable payment within AI-driven conversations, has surpassed 100 million active users, with weekly transactions topping USD 17.47 million. The milestone marks a transition from a pr
Analysis
More
Sovereign AI: The New Battleground
Sovereign AI is the new battleground, and Washington seeks certainty. The debate hinges on whether the United States can offer foreign partners enough deployment control over American AI tech to keep influence intact while others push to reduce dependence on U.S. systems. In a pointed op-ed publishe
Wisconsin scrapped VPN ban, but age checks loom
Wisconsin scrapped the VPN ban, but the age-check bill still threatens online access. In a move that drew cheers from digital rights advocates and concerns from lawmakers who see a harder line on internet content, Wisconsin lawmakers removed the provision banning VPN services from S.B. 130 / A.B. 10
Password Managers: Your Online Lifeline in 2026
Your passwords just got a personal bodyguard. The Electronic Frontier Foundation released a February 2026 guide that simply treats password managers as the single most effective defense against phishing and data breaches. The point is blunt: if you’re still reusing passwords across dozens of sites,
Face Verification: The Internet's New Gatekeeper
Your face is becoming the password to the internet. That is the throughline in a growing wave of online age checks that regulators and platforms are considering, a trend highlighted in the February 2026 issue of EFFector. The issue spots Discord’s controversial rollout of mandatory age verification,
Newsletter
The Robotics Briefing
Weekly intelligence on automation, regulation, and investment trends - crafted for operators, researchers, and policy leaders.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. Read our privacy policy for details.