While investors are pouring billions into humanoid startups, Rodney Brooks — robotics pioneer, iRobot founder, and former MIT professor — has a simple message: wake up, you’re investing in fantasy.
In his latest essay, Brooks sharply criticizes the industry’s obsession with the idea that robots can learn human tasks by watching endless videos of people in action. He calls this approach “pure fantasy,” emphasizing that human hands are incredibly complex, with more than 17,000 touch receptors — something machines cannot even remotely replicate using video data.
He reminded readers that breakthroughs in language and vision processing were made possible by decades of progress in imaging technologies and data — while in robotics, nothing similar exists for tactile information. In other words, without physical sensors and real touch, AI models cannot understand the world accurately enough to perform complex tasks.
Brooks also warns about exponential safety risks, noting that doubling the size of a robot increases its kinetic energy eightfold, meaning falls or impacts from such machines could have serious consequences.
According to his prediction, in 15 years the most successful robots will not look like humans — they will be machines on wheels, with multiple arms and specialized sensors, rather than humanoids that walk. While investments are currently at their peak, Brooks believes most of that money will “evaporate” before the market sees truly useful humanoid machines.
Of course, Tesla and Figure AI would likely disagree.
In brief: Tech World Highlights
- California-based startup Flip, which reached a $1 billion valuation in 2024 thanks to its TikTok-like shopping and review app, has now shut down operations.
- Biotechnology company Exelixis, specializing in anti-cancer therapies, is laying off 130 workers, consolidating operations, and closing its Pennsylvania facility.
- Novo Nordisk has secured global rights to self-replicating RNA technology from Replicate Bioscience in a deal worth up to $550 million, targeting new therapies for obesity and diabetes.
- Finland has launched the world’s largest industrial sand battery in the city of Pornainen, replacing a wood-chip plant and aiming to cut local heating emissions by up to 70%.
- California has reached a historic agreement with Uber and Lyft, allowing drivers to unionize while retaining their status as independent contractors.
AI Trending Tools:
- GenFlow 2.0 – Baidu’s general AI agent for complex tasks.
- Stormy – AI agent for influencer marketing.
- Imagen 4 – Google’s state-of-the-art image generation model, now generally available.
