Thread by @adcock_brett

Another massive week of AI and robotics news.

I summarized everything from OpenAI, xAI, Google, Cognition, Figure, AWS, Meta, UBTECH, Pollen Robotics, Agility Robotics, and more.

Here's everything you need to know and how to make sense out of it:

OpenAI dropped ChatGPT Agent, an automated system that can think, plan, and execute complex tasks on a virtual computer

It merges tools like Operator and Deep Research, and can switch between browsing, coding, and doc creation, while connecting to apps

xAI upgraded Grok with anime-inspired 3D AI companions that can hold voice conversations and build relationships with users

Following the launch, the AI assistant became the top-trending app in Japan's app stores

Grok is also set to land on Tesla cars

Google announced a $2.4B tech licensing deal with Windsurf

Windsurf CEO Varun and the team will work on agentic coding for Gemini, powering the assistant to take on GitHub Copilot and other coding agents

A day after Google's deal, Cognition, the company behind coding agent "Devin," announced that it is acquiring the remainder of Windsurf

With this deal, it gets Windsurf's IP, brand, team, $82M in annual revenue, and $100M+ capital

Figure update: We just introduced a 2.3 kWh F.03 battery, engineered and manufactured in-house. Key highlights:

—5 hrs of runtime
—Improved energy density
—2 kW fast charge with active cooling
—Custom BMS to maintain health
—78% cheaper than F.02

AWS launched Kiro, a new agentic IDE to take on Cursor

It combines agentic coding with spec-driven development to bridge the gap between AI prototypes and complex production-ready apps

Free preview now available

Meta announced plans to build superclusters in Louisiana and Ohio to develop AI superintelligence

The first 1GW facility will come online in 2026, while the second, Hyperion, will scale from 2 to 5GW

The co is aiming to invest hundreds of billions of dollars

China's UBTECH unveiled Walker S2, its next-gen humanoid for industrial use cases

The company claims it's the first humanoid that can swap its battery on its own to ensure continuous operation around the clock

Hugging Face's Pollen Robotics team open-sourced a fully 3D-printed robotic hand that costs less than $200

Weighing 400g, "The Amazing Hand" uses a soft TPU shell
and promises 8 DoF with dual hobby servos per finger

Agility Robotics released a clip of its Digit Robot, showing how it can recover from uncomfortable situations, like when someone pulls a rug from under its feet

The co is targeting industrial tasks with its robots, working with giants like Amazon

Hume AI launched EVI-3, a new speech-to-speech model

It doesn't just mimic the voice of the speaker but also their tone, speaking style, nuances, language, and personality.

All it needs is just 15-20s of audio

Ex-Open CTO Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab announced $2B in seed funding

Murati said the company is building multimodal AI and will launch its first product in the "next couple of months" with a major open-source component

Lightricks updated its image-to-video LTXV model to support 60-second-long outputs

It streams video live, returning the first second instantly while building scenes

Also includes controls to adjust poses, depth, and style for real-time scene evaluation

Chinese company Leju Robotics released a clip of its new, shorter humanoid, Roban2

The company is targeting light to heavy factory use cases with different form factors

Last, its Kuavo humanoid was seen moving totes at FAW's car factory

We're hiring for BotQ, our new manufacturing division at @Figure_robot:

> Warehouse lead
> Software Test Eng
> End of Line Lead
> Equipment Eng
> Technician
> Manufacturing Eng

Apply here: figure.ai/careers
x.com/adcock_brett/s…

@Figure_robot That's it for this week's AI and Robotics breakdown.

I share the latest research every week, so follow me @adcock_brett for more.

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