Living with robots could lead to plenty of societal improvements, but they also pose risks to how we socialize and co-exist with other human beings.

Robot makers are in a full-on sprint to take over factories, warehouses and homes, but lofty visions of rapid adoption are outpacing the technology’s reality.

With stats like that, one can’t help but suspect that the first country to have a million humanoids will be China.

Humans are desperate to put the robots to work. The only problem is, the robots don’t “work” to any degree. These humanoid bots are interesting. Some are even cute. Few, if any, are anywhere close to prime time. It was a dour scene at CES 2026, so much so I can’t help but wonder if they ever will be.

Humanoid robots will be able to recharge just by stepping on this new inductive charging platform, says Figure CEO Brett Adcock.

With this update, 1X Technologies' NEO leverages internet-scale video data fine-tuned on robot data to perform AI tasks.

Many researchers agree that there has been a step change in humanoid capability over the past five years, owing to cheaper parts as well as innovations such as improved battery power and artificial-intelligence algorithms, which allow for better perception and autonomy.

Airbus ordered UBTech’s Walker S2, a full-size humanoid that stands 176 cm tall (5’9"), weighs 70 kg (154 lbs), and walks at about two meters/second (4.5 mph). It has dextrous hands with 11 degrees of freedom and tactile sensors, and can hold 7.5 kg (16.5 lbs) in each hand and 1 kg (2.2 lbs) with each finger.

On Jan. 22, Louisiana's economic development agency and St. Bernard-based SSE Steel Fabrication announced an agreement with Houston-based tech startup Persona AI to launch a pilot program at SSE to develop humanoid robotics for industrial uses. Greater New Orleans Inc., southeast Louisiana's economic development nonprofit, also is participating.

Elon Musk addressed what he felt the future may look like during his talk at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.