World Humanoid Robot Games show runners held the second edition in Beijing and displayed humanoid robots sprinting, performing skills, and doing practical tasks, with videos showing both crashes and robots breaking or catching fire. The event ran from August 22–26. Organizers used these results to highlight humanoid robots’ commercial potential while also showing they struggle with stopping quickly and keeping up with human working speeds.
MIRAVA raised $5M in angel funding as it prepares to move toward small-batch production of intelligent, partly autonomous boating technology and plan European market introductions. The company says it will showcase its technology and first production model at the Cannes Yachting Festival in September 2026. The focus shifts from human-only operation toward boats that can assist with tasks like autonomous docking and station keeping, plus an intelligent wearable interface, and modular vessel configurations for different activities.
Ropedia launched HOMIE Gen2, a head-mounted wearable that records egocentric human movement data to train robotic AI models. The device synchronizes four camera streams, spatial audio, and inertial data to within 50 microseconds. HOMIE Gen2 enables faster and cheaper deployment than the previous generation, with deployment said to be 10 times faster and costing about one-12th the price of a full lab capture.
Ollobot says its AI companion robot OlloNi SS1 is built to provide continuous, emotionally attentive presence in homes rather than the short, voice-command interactions of earlier companion robots. The article cites a 5-meter voice capture range and adds features like fall detection, autonomous home mobility, and over-the-air updates. This shifts the category toward on-device, connected systems that personalize over time and aim to prevent loneliness through ongoing companionship.
A robot carnival in Shanghai let families watch and interact with humanoid and other specialty robots displayed by more than 100 robotics firms and R&D groups. Nearly 90% of over 13,000 two-armed, two-legged robots delivered globally last year were made in China. The public event increases exposure to humanoid robots, supporting the effort to bring AI into everyday life despite ongoing concerns about safety, price, and battery life.
RunwayVC completed the first closing of Fund II after raising €40 million to back industrial AI and robotics, with initial Fund II investments going to Minerva and HIVE. The fund’s first closing was €40 million. It will broaden its limited-partner base beyond Aker’s sole backing, target about 20 investments over 3 to 5 years at pre-seed and Series A stages, and continue funding connectivity, intelligence, and autonomy startups, including robotics and autonomy-as-a-service.
General Intuition is in talks to raise new funding at a $6 billion pre-money valuation. The company is seeking the higher valuation only weeks after raising $320 million at a $2.3 billion valuation. If the round closes, new investors would join existing backers and the money would be used to improve its foundation model, expand compute, and hire more talent toward robotics and real-world agent performance.
Generalist AI Inc. reportedly raised $200 million to develop artificial intelligence software for robots. The reported funding round was led by 8VC, and it followed a previous $400 million round in June. Generalist’s new capital is expected to support Gen-1.5, its robotic-arm model that can be taught by demonstrations and simulated clips, reducing the time and code updates needed to create automation workflows.
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