robots

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Bezos Predicts 'Millions' Will Be Living in Space Soon

But robots will be doing most of the work, he reckons

(Newser) - Jeff Bezos is looking to the stars, and he thinks millions of us will soon follow. Speaking at an Italian Tech Week event in Turin earlier this month, the Amazon and Blue Origin founder predicted that within two decades, "millions of people" will be living in space. Bezos is...

Musk: I Need $1T Pay Package to Run 'Robot Army'

Tesla CEO suggests he may leave company if deal doesn't pass Nov. 6 vote

(Newser) - Elon Musk ended Tesla's earnings call Wednesday with a fiery outburst over his proposed $1 trillion pay package , blasting the advisers trying to block it and warning shareholders that his future at Tesla is on the line. Musk rejected the idea that his deal is simply "compensation,"...

Amazon Automation May Mean 600K Fewer Jobs

New York Times reports the company thinks it can avoid that number of hires by 2033

(Newser) - Amazon is leaning hard into automating its operations, so much so that the New York Times reports an eye-popping number: The stepped-up automation means the company will be able to avoid hiring 600,000 actual humans by 2033. Even by 2027, the figure is 160,000. Amazon currently employs about...

How Sharpie Bucked the Trend of Outsourcing to China

Automation, training, and investment fuel Sharpie's American manufacturing turnaround

(Newser) - Inside a Tennessee factory, Sharpie has reimagined American manufacturing—producing its iconic markers faster and more cheaply in the US than overseas, all while keeping jobs at home, reports the Wall Street Journal in an extensive look at how the company is bucking the trend of outsourcing abroad. The...

Can't Remember to Water Your Plants? There's an App for That

Gardening and plant care go high tech, with some innovations backed by artificial intelligence, apps

(Newser) - Looking to go high-tech in your gardening endeavors? Tools are evolving to incorporate technology—including artificial intelligence—to help us keep plants healthier, avoid unpleasant tasks, and even grow crops indoors over the winter. Here, a quick look at some of these gardening innovations from the AP :
  • Mowing: If you
...

China's Robot Army Is Coming Along Nicely

Nation leads the world with 2M factory bots, outpacing every other country combined

(Newser) - China now leads the world in factory robots, outpacing every other country combined, according to a new report from the International Federation of Robotics. More than 2 million robots toiled in Chinese factories in 2024, with nearly 300,000 newly installed—far surpassing the 34,000 added in the...

MLB Players Will Soon Be Able to Challenge Balls, Strikes

'Robot umpires' will be ready when needed, beginning next season

(Newser) - Major League Baseball is now officially set to roll out " robot umpires " for 2026. The league's 11-member competition committee—made up of six owners, four players, and one umpire—gave the green light on Tuesday to an automated strike zone "challenge" system, which Commissioner Rob...

This $500K Robot Army Only Needs to Look, Smell Good

Florida officials optimistic about ongoing effort to attract the invasive Burmese python

(Newser) - They look, move and even smell like the kind of furry Everglades marsh rabbit a Burmese python would love to eat. But these bunnies are robots meant to lure the giant invasive snakes out of their hiding spots. It's the latest effort by the South Florida Water Management District...

Robot Rabbits Join Florida's Fight Against Invasive Snakes
In Fight Against Pythons,
Florida Stuffs 40 Toy Bunnies
in case you missed it
Aug 9, 2025 1:00 PM CDT

In Fight Against Pythons, Florida Stuffs 40 Toy Bunnies

Robotic rabbits join state's battle against invasive Burmese pythons in the Everglades

(Newser) - Florida's ongoing battle with invasive Burmese pythons has gone high tech, with wildlife teams now deploying robotic rabbits to help find and capture the elusive snakes. The solar-powered, remote-controlled decoys look and smell like marsh rabbits—favored python prey—and even emit heat signatures to lure the snakes...

Amazon Deploys Its Millionth Robot
Amazon Deploys
Its Millionth Robot
Jul 1, 2025 3:25 AM CDT

Amazon Deploys Its Millionth Robot

Company is on track for robot workers to outnumber humans

(Newser) - Amazon is on track to have more robots than humans working in its warehouses, with over a million robots now deployed—nearly matching its human workforce. Robots now assist with or handle tasks like picking, packaging, and sorting in about 75% of Amazon's global deliveries, according to the...

Report: Amazon Is Training Humanoid Delivery Robots

Source says company is building 'obstacle course' for testing

(Newser) - Optimus Prime delivery? Amazon is reportedly planning to use humanoid robots to carry out deliveries in its fleet of Rivian electric vans. Citing a source involved in the project, the Information , via the Guardian and the Verge , reports that the company is building a "humanoid park" obstacle course in...

Musk's Most Important Mission Isn't DOGE or EVs
Musk's Most Important
Mission Isn't DOGE or EVs
OPINION
May 5, 2025 10:28 AM CDT

Musk's Most Important Mission Isn't DOGE or EVs

It's perfecting Tesla's humanoid robot, writes essayist in the Washington Post

(Newser) - Elon Musk is shifting away from DOGE to refocus on Tesla, and James Pethokoukis writes in a Washington Post essay that it can't happen soon enough. The reason is not because of politics or even electric cars. Pethokoukis, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, makes the case...

Fake Firm Staffed With Bots Was a 'Total Disaster'

Carnegie Mellon researchers discovered that their AI 'workers' weren't particularly good at their jobs

(Newser) - What would happen if a fake company was created from scratch, staffed completely by bots? Researchers at Carnegie Mellon wanted to know the answer, so they launched The Agent Company , a virtual simulation of a software company that put artificial intelligence "agents" from such companies as OpenAI, Google, Meta,...

Robots Take On the Humans in Half-Marathon

We humans win in China, but the robots showed lots of progress

(Newser) - Congratulations, humans. You bested humanoid robot runners in a half-marathon billed as the first of its kind. Given the fast progress the robots are making, however, it might not pay to bet on next year's race just yet. Details:
  • About 12,000 human runners and 21 humanoid robots
...

Robot Returns to Depths of Fukushima

'Telesco' enters reactor for deeper extraction of molten debris

(Newser) - A remote-controlled robot delved a second time inside Fukushima's damaged reactor, navigating the depths of the nuclear disaster site to collect melted fuel debris 14 years after the tsunami. As the AP reports, this follows an initial retrieval attempt in November in an effort to develop technology and...

Pitcher Who Hates Robot Umps Gets Trolled in Game

Friend and ex-teammate Trea Turner jokingly challenges a strike by Max Scherzer

(Newser) - Major League Baseball is experimenting with robot umpires during this spring season, and Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer has made clear he is not a fan. That set the stage for a little trolling from an ex-teammate during a game on Sunday. As MLB.com recounts:
  • Scherzer's first
...

All Hail MLB's New Robot Umpires
All Hail MLB's
New Robot Umpires
Feb 22, 2025 9:30 AM CST

All Hail MLB's New Robot Umpires

Computerized Automated Ball-Strike System being used for challenges in spring training

(Newser) - A computerized system that calls balls and strikes began its test run this week during some Major League Baseball spring training exhibition games, after four years of experiments in the minor leagues. Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred is an advocate of the Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS), which potentially as early as...

'Tesla Bot' Action Figure Sells Out Quickly

The 7-inch-tall toy is a mini version of the full-size Tesla Bot humanoid helper that Musk has promised

(Newser) - We haven't had much word of late on the "Tesla Bot" humanoid helpers that Elon Musk promised were coming a few years back—until now, in mini form. A 7-inch-tall action figure based on the concept showed up for sale over the weekend on Tesla's site , but...

Robot Emerges From Fukushima With a First Clue

Removal of tiny fuel debris sample is first step toward much bigger cleanup at Japanese plant

(Newser) - A robot that has spent months inside the ruins of a nuclear reactor at the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi plant delivered a tiny sample of melted nuclear fuel on Thursday, in what plant officials said was a step toward beginning the cleanup of hundreds of tons of melted fuel debris. The...

Robot Artist's Painting Could Fetch Big Dough

Ai-Da's portrait of Alan Turing is expected to sell for up to $180K at Sotheby's auction next month

(Newser) - At just 5 years old, she's already given a Ted Talk , served as an artist in residence at the 2022 Glastonbury Festival, and seen her artwork displayed at the United Nations. Now, the artist known as Ai-Da will make history at Sotheby's with the auction house's first...

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