This Week's Good ReadsBain & Company — Humanoid Robots: From Demos to Deployment

‍Bain's Technology Report 2025 offers a reality check on humanoid robotics, noting that while $2.5 billion flowed into the sector in 2024, most deployments remain in pilot phases with heavy human supervision. The report maps out which capabilities—intelligence, perception, handling, and power—will mature first and outlines strategic moves for technology providers, manufacturers, and adopters. Read the full report.

‍MIT Technology Review — What's Next for Robots

MIT Tech Review examines the year ahead for robotics, covering real-world humanoid trials at logistics facilities, Nvidia's new Cosmos "world foundation model" trained on 20 million hours of video, and military developments in wall-climbing inspection bots and indoor attack drones. The piece balances enthusiasm with skepticism about how quickly these machines will truly deliver. Read the article.

Fortune — Silicon Valley Summit Reveals China's Lead in Humanoid Robots

Coverage from the Humanoids Summit in Mountain View highlights that China has pulled ahead in the humanoid race, with roughly 20 companies raising $100M+ compared to 15 in North America. Disney's autonomous Olaf robot is heading to theme parks, while U.S. trade groups push for a stronger national strategy to keep pace. Read the coverage.

Robotics Companies Funding

• Lyte – $107 M, Series B (aggregate funding) round (5 Jan 2026), led by Avigdor Willenz's group with Fidelity Management & Research Company, Atreides Management, Exor Ventures, Key1 Capital, and Venture Tech Alliance (Crunchbase). Mountain View-based builder of integrated perception systems for robotics and Physical AI, founded by former Apple Face ID engineers, offering the LyteVision platform combining 4D sensing, RGB imaging, and motion awareness for autonomous mobile robots, humanoids, and robotaxis.
• xAI – $20 B, Series E round (6 Jan 2026), led by Valor Equity Partners with Stepstone Group, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Qatar Investment Authority, MGX, and Baron Capital Group; strategic investors include NVIDIA and Cisco (Crunchbase). San Francisco-based AI company founded by Elon Musk in 2023, developing the Grok chatbot and operating the X platform, with over 600 million monthly active users and infrastructure including the Colossus supercomputers with over 1 million H100 GPU equivalents.
• Rollo Robotics – €3.7 M, Pre-seed round (8 Jan 2026), led by FoodLabs and Prototype, with support from Enterprise Estonia's RUP programme (Crunchbase). Tallinn-based Estonian deep-tech startup developing the world's first stable autonomous monowheel security robot using proprietary gyroscopic balance control for urban and industrial security patrolling.

Robotics News

• Motional puts AI at center of robotaxi reboot as it targets 2026 for driverless service — The Hyundai-backed autonomous vehicle company has rebooted its robotaxi plans with an AI-first approach, promising to launch a commercial driverless service in Las Vegas by end of 2026. TechCrunch
• EndoQuest expands collaboration with NVIDIA to power next-generation endoluminal robotic surgery — EndoQuest Robotics is integrating NVIDIA's Blackwell-based IGX Thor platform to deliver real-time imaging, robotic control, and cloud-enabled intelligence for minimally invasive GI procedures. Medical Economics
• Chinese firms outpace US rivals in 2025 humanoid robot shipments, as AgiBot takes lead — Shanghai-based AgiBot topped global humanoid robot shipments in 2025 with nearly 38% market share (5,168 units), as Chinese firms dominated the market with worldwide shipments jumping 480% to 13,318 units. South China Morning Post
• Amazon acquires truck unloading developer Rightbot — Amazon has acquired Rightbot Technologies, a company that developed robots for unstructured load handling, adding the team to Amazon's Robotics Delivery and Packaging Innovation unit. Automated Warehouse
• Grab acquires AI robotics firm Infermove to boost delivery capabilities — Singapore's Grab Holdings acquired China-based Infermove, an AI-enabled robotics developer, to strengthen first- and last-mile delivery capabilities with autonomous sidewalk delivery robots. Reuters via Yahoo Finance
• Mobileye to acquire Mentee Robotics to accelerate Physical AI leadership — Mobileye announced a $900 million acquisition of humanoid robotics startup Mentee Robotics, combining autonomous driving technology with humanoid robot development, with commercialization targeted for 2028. Mobileye
• Uber reveals new robotaxi from Lucid and Nuro — Uber, Lucid Motors, and Nuro unveiled their production-intent robotaxi based on the Lucid Gravity SUV at CES 2026, featuring integrated sensors and Nvidia's Drive AGX Thor computer, with commercial service planned for the Bay Area later this year. TechCrunch
• Boston Dynamics' next-gen humanoid robot will have Google DeepMind DNA — Boston Dynamics announced a strategic partnership with Google DeepMind to integrate AI foundation models into its Atlas humanoid robot, aiming to develop more natural human-robot interactions. TechCrunch

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