Robotics & Physical AI

Medtronic reported first-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue of $9.76 billion, up 13.7% from a year earlier, and raised its full-year outlook, with adjusted diluted EPS climbing 15.1% to $1.45 and GAAP EPS rising 40.7% to $1.14. Management now expects organic revenue growth of 7.25%-7.75% for fiscal 2027, up from 6.75%-7.25% previously, and lifted adjusted EPS guidance to $5.94-$6.00. The quarter included an extra selling week that added about $570 million to revenue, so the headline growth rate should not be expected to repeat. Cardiovascular delivered strong growth, while Neuroscience, Medical Surgical and Diabetes also posted high-single-digit or double-digit organic growth. At a share price of around $89-$90, the stock trades at roughly 15 times the midpoint of the adjusted EPS forecast, versus about 22 times trailing earnings, while paying a quarterly dividend of $0.72 per share, or $2.88 a year, for a yield of roughly 3.2%-3.3%. Medtronic is also expanding its Affera cardiac mapping and ablation system, investing in Pi-Cardia and Cornerstone Robotics, and has acquired Scientia Vascular and SPR Therapeutics, with a planned separation of its Diabetes business.

Pony.ai and its Croatian partner Verne have launched fully driverless robotaxi trials in Zagreb, the company's first such deployment in Europe. The service runs on public roads in Croatia's capital and is integrated with the Uber app for ride hailing. The Zagreb launch extends Pony.ai's autonomous ride service beyond its existing markets and gives the company a live European proof point for its joint deployment model, in which partners fund fleets while Pony.ai concentrates on Level 4 software and operations. Pony.ai, a US based software group focused on autonomous mobility in China and overseas, has a market cap of $2.8b, placing it in the mid sized bracket of global automation players. Investors can watch upcoming disclosures on paid ride volumes, fleet count and contribution margins from joint deployments like Zagreb to see whether unit economics in new cities start to resemble improving metrics already reported in Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said on the company's Q4 earnings call that physical AI, starting with self-driving cars and expanding to humanoid robots, could become a significant driver of memory and storage demand by the end of this decade. In its Q4 report on Wednesday, Micron reported earnings per share of $33.42, up 1,002% from $3.03 in the same quarter last year, while revenue climbed 379% to $54.23 billion from $11.31 billion in Q4 2025. Mehrotra said memory content in level 4 and higher autonomous vehicles typically exceeds 200 gigabytes, with storage reaching multiple terabytes, each more than an order of magnitude greater than in today's level two plus and level three semi-autonomous vehicles. He added that humanoid robots will have similar memory and storage requirements, which could serve as an additional revenue opportunity. Companies working on humanoid robots include Tesla, Figure, Hyundai's Boston Dynamics, Unitree Robotics, and Agility Robotics, though Reuters reported only 7,000 humanoid robots were sold globally in 2025 for industrial and professional services.

Lowe's Companies has begun drone delivery from its Matthews, North Carolina store, offering selected home improvement and household items in as little as 20 minutes through partners Wing and DoorDash. The pilot launch comes as Lowe's shares have been under pressure, with a 30-day share price return down 8.83%, a year-to-date share price return down 26.13%, and a 1-year total shareholder return down 24.75%. The company is also accelerating its shift toward professional contractors while strengthening its Total Home strategy for DIY and Do It For Me customers, supported by major acquisitions including Foundation Building Materials and Artisan Design Group plus digital investments. The most followed narrative values Lowe's at $255.00 against a last close of $182.38, a 28.5% undervalued estimate based on discounted future cash flows. That story could break if Pro demand softens for longer than expected or if the FBM and ADG integrations drag on profitability.

Eni S.p.A. has signed a memorandum of understanding with Generative Bionics, an Italian deep-tech company developing humanoid robots powered by Physical AI, to test and evaluate advanced robotic systems starting with GENE.01. The collaboration will assess humanoid robots for inspection, teleoperation, remote assistance and other complex industrial tasks, with the aim of improving workplace safety, operational efficiency and data-driven monitoring across Eni's asset base. Eni will also evaluate whether its industrial sites can support future production, assembly and testing of advanced robotic systems, and the agreement covers cooperation on battery use, disposal and recycling. Under the materials and computing side of the deal, Versalis and Finproject will assess materials and design solutions for GENE.01's foot and footwear system, focusing on strength, grip, durability, impact absorption and ease of assembly, while Eni will evaluate using its High Performance Computing infrastructure to advance development and testing of Generative Bionics' Physical AI models. The agreement is not a near-term earnings catalyst, but Eni is exploring robotics as an operational tool, a materials opportunity and a computing-driven industrial platform, following similar automation efforts at Shell plc, Chevron Corporation and ExxonMobil Holdings Corporation.

Innodata Inc. has opened a motion-capture research and development laboratory in New Jersey aimed at training humanoids, industrial robots and other physical AI systems. Developed with Vicon, the facility uses high-precision infrared optical tracking cameras capable of measuring movement at sub-millimeter accuracy, capturing 3D movement directly rather than inferring it from 2D video. Customers can purchase off-the-shelf motion-capture datasets, commission customized projects or send robots to the lab for independent performance testing, and Innodata can also provide external validation of robots' internal telemetry. The move builds on Innodata's earlier robotics initiatives, including successful egocentric data-collection pilots with leading robotics companies during the second quarter, when revenues rose 58% year over year to $92.1 million and adjusted EBITDA increased 92% to $25.4 million. Innodata also reiterated its expectation for at least 40% revenue growth in 2026, though the company said the pace at which pilot projects convert into large commercial programs will be critical.

Kodiak AI plans to make IKEA Supply its first customer for driverless long-haul freight service by the end of this year. The planned launch would remove the safety observer from the cab on a 219-mile leg, primarily along Interstate 45 between Kodiak's Houston and Dallas-area facilities, a key segment of an existing 292-mile route from IKEA's Baytown distribution center to its Frisco store. The announcement builds on four years of supervised autonomous deliveries for IKEA, during which Kodiak says it has carried more than 1,300 loads and logged over 750K miles with a safety observer aboard. Kodiak began its long-haul launch program in August and said its trucks now complete runs between Lancaster, Texas, and Houston without the observer intervening, though the company must finish its highway safety case before removing the observer. Kodiak AI was founded in 2018 and developed the Kodiak Driver, an autonomous-driving system for trucks and other vehicles; the Mountain View, California-based company went public on September 25, 2025, when its shares began trading on Nasdaq following a SPAC transaction with Ares Acquisition Corporation II. Shares of Kodiak AI were up 1.8% in premarket trading after peeling off 13.0% on Thursday.

Mercedes-Benz Group AG has entered into a definitive production agreement with British autonomous driving startup Wayve to integrate its AI Driver technology into future Mercedes vehicles, with integration expected to begin within the next two years. The deal marks the first production deployment of Wayve's end-to-end driving AI in a premium vehicle and builds on the existing partnership between the companies, including Mercedes-Benz's investment in Wayve's $1.5 billion Series D funding round earlier this year. Under the agreement, Wayve has integrated its AI Driver with Mercedes' production system architecture, including the automaker's hardware, MB.OS operating system and mapping interfaces. Mercedes-Benz is expanding its MB.OS software platform across the vehicle lineup, including both BEVs and ICE vehicles, and expects to expand its AI-based point-to-point assisted-driving technology into Europe as regulations allow. The company also lowered its 2026 sales outlook and now expects full-year sales to be slightly below 2025 levels, largely because of weaker-than-expected conditions in China, where the auto market declined roughly 20% in the second quarter.

Agility Robotics and FORT Robotics signed a memorandum of understanding on October 1, 2026, outlining a strategic partnership to advance the safety infrastructure of Digit 5, Agility's next-generation humanoid robot engineered for cooperatively safe work at scale. The partnership deepens a multi-year engagement that has grown from a single custom hardware component into an integrated, three-part safety architecture consisting of a safety pendant, on-robot communications, and off-robot interfaces connecting Digit with external safety systems. The off-robot interface, jointly developed by FORT and Agility and known as the Offboard Safety Bridge, is designed to extend Agility's cooperative-safety approach beyond the robot itself, complementing the onboard safety architecture already planned for Digit 5. The two companies will also establish a broader operating framework covering joint hardware development, solutions engineering, regulatory compliance, and deployment support as Digit 5 begins deployment and scales into more complex commercial environments such as warehouses, manufacturing, and logistics. Digit 5's predecessors have already logged more than 65,000 hours of operation and have been deployed at customer sites including Schaeffler, GXO, and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada. Agility CTO Pras Velagapudi said every layer added with FORT has made Digit's safety system more resilient, while FORT founder and CEO Samuel Reeves said formalizing the strategic partnership reflects how central that architecture has become to getting humanoid robots to work safely in close proximity with people.

XPENG will make the global launch of its Next-Gen AI Flagship SUV, the G9L, at the 2026 Paris Motor Show, opening European order books and revealing European pricing at the event running October 12 to 18. The G9L will become the fourth XPENG model produced in Europe, following the company's expansion of local manufacturing. XPENG and Tesla will be the only two automakers participating in the show's official Autonomous Lab, where XPENG will offer its first large-scale NGP test ride experience outside China using the recently launched L03 SUV coupe. XPENG will present one of the largest stands among Chinese automakers, spanning more than 1,000 square meters in Hall 6, showcasing its Physical AI ecosystem including the G9L, L03, P7+, G6, G9 and X9 alongside humanoid robots and flying cars. The company has delivered more than 100,000 vehicles overseas, including over 60,000 in Europe and more than 6,000 in France since entering that market two years ago; in the second quarter, overseas deliveries surpassed 20,000 units for the first time, up 81% year-on-year, while its robotics business completed a first funding round of over US$900 million in August.

The Board of Investment traveled to Seoul on September 28-29, 2026, to discuss investment plans with three leading South Korean companies: Hyundai, T-Robotics and COSMAX, and to hold talks with the Federation of Korean Industries, or FKI, on expanding investment cooperation between the two countries. BOI Secretary-General Narit Therdsteerasukdi said the roadshow aims to attract new investment and to build on the investments of South Korean companies already based in Thailand, moving them toward higher value-added activities including research and development, smart manufacturing and advanced technology. Hyundai Motor, which has received BOI promotion to build a battery electric vehicle and lithium-ion battery plant in Samut Prakan province and began actual production in May 2026, discussed ways to upgrade its investment toward advanced technology activities and to link Thai suppliers into its supply chain. T-Robotics, a South Korean industrial robotics specialist and a key partner of Applied Materials, was invited to invest in Thailand to serve the semiconductor and advanced electronics industries, and the company is interested in supporting a high-skilled workforce development program known as Skill Bridge. COSMAX, which researches, develops and manufactures cosmetics for leading global brands and has invested in Thailand since 2018, is investing an additional more than 1.8 billion baht to build a new plant and expand capacity; it has already hired more than 500 Thai workers and plans to raise that to more than 700 next year. FKI said South Korean companies are focusing on expanding investment in three main areas: semiconductors, robotics or physical AI, and artificial intelligence data centers. South Korean investment in ASEAN has more than doubled since 2010 to about 10 billion US dollars a year. From 2021 through the first half of 2026, South Korea submitted 167 investment promotion applications in Thailand with a combined value of more than 65.9 billion baht, mostly in electronics and electrical appliances, machinery and automation systems, metal products and materials, and chemicals.

FORT Robotics and Newbury Street II Acquisition Corp announced the confidential submission of a draft registration statement on Form S-4 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for their previously disclosed business combination. Upon closing, the combined company will be named FORT Robotics Holdings, Inc. and is expected to list on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker symbol FROB, creating the first publicly traded company dedicated principally to the safe and scalable deployment of physical AI. The transaction values FORT at an enterprise value of approximately $556.6 million, comprising a pre-money equity value of $500.0 million. The deal is expected to provide approximately $201 million in gross proceeds, consisting of cash held in Newbury Street II's trust account assuming no redemptions and committed investments, including approximately $31 million of committed common equity through PIPE and Non-Redemption Agreement investments, delivering approximately $182 million of net cash to the combined company's balance sheet. FORT's Trust Layer safety platform is deployed across more than 19,500 units to over 600 customers, including Agility Robotics, DoorDash, Cobot, Zoox, Textron, and Google DeepMind, and the company grew revenue 62% year-over-year in 2025 at a 66% gross margin. The business combination is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026 or the first quarter of 2027, subject to Newbury Street II shareholder approval, SEC review, regulatory approvals, and Nasdaq listing approval.

Daimler Truck is betting on owning the entire autonomous trucking system, with its Torc Robotics subsidiary aiming to run trucks on public roads with no safety driver in the cab before the end of the year. CEO Karin Rådström said at Daimler Truck's Media Night, ahead of IAA Transportation 2026, that the setup differentiates the company from any other player in the industry, spanning the truck platform and vehicle architecture, hardware integration and autonomous driving software. Daimler Truck North America builds the autonomous-ready chassis with redundancy in steering and braking, while Torc develops the AI-driven system covering perception, planning and driving. First commercial freight operations are planned for 2027, with scaling to begin in 2028, starting on long-haul lanes in North America, where Rådström said trucks travel more than twice the daily distance of European trucks and driver shortages are even more difficult. Torc previously completed driver-out validation in November 2024 on a multi-lane closed course in Texas at speeds up to 65 mph. With Freightliner, Rådström said the company is the clear number one in North American heavy-duty trucks; its Freightliner and Western Star brands held 37.8% of the North American Class 8 market through June, according to Daimler Truck's second-quarter investor presentation, and more than 1 million Cascadias have been sold in the U.S. since the model's 2007 introduction.

Advanced Micro Devices has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire World Labs, an artificial intelligence model and research company led by AI pioneer Dr. Fei-Fei Li, in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $8.2 billion that is expected to close by the end of 2026. World Labs specializes in spatial-intelligence models that generate, reconstruct and simulate interactive 3D environments from text, images and video, and is also developing technologies for robotic learning and simulation. AMD said the deal will give it deeper visibility into how emerging AI workloads are evolving across reasoning, robotics, simulation and physical AI, helping it tailor future hardware, software and system architectures, and strengthening its position in physical AI and robotics alongside its Ryzen AI Embedded X100 processors and Kria AI Robotics Developer Platform. The acquisition fits AMD's shift from selling individual chips toward becoming a full-system AI infrastructure provider, complementing its Instinct, EPYC, Pensando and ROCm ecosystem and its recently launched Helios rack-scale AI platform, which AMD says offers up to 15% higher inference throughput at the same rack power and up to 30% more tokens per dollar than competing solutions. The deal comes as AMD's Data Center revenues surged 107% year over year to $6.7 billion in the second quarter of 2026, with management expecting Data Center segment revenues to more than double year over year in 2027 and estimating the data-center AI accelerator market will reach roughly $1.4 trillion by 2030.

Tesla Inc. has lined up $30 billion of new loans and credit lines as the electric-car maker dials up investments in artificial intelligence and robotics. The company said it entered three credit agreements: a $20 billion term loan it can draw on later, an $8 billion line of credit for five years, and a $2 billion line of credit for about one year. The facilities replace a previous $5 billion of line of credit that was set to mature in January 2028, and Tesla said it doesn't currently plan to draw on any of them this year. Citigroup is administrative agent for the new delayed-draw term loan, while Wells Fargo & Co. is administrative agent for the credit lines. Tesla plans to spend more than $25 billion this year to expand its factory operations and its fleet of autonomous Cybercab robotaxis, and Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said on the company's July earnings call that it should spend on capex as fast as it can without being too wasteful. Under the new credit lines, Tesla has the option to increase commitments by as much as $4 billion, potentially increasing the facilities to $14 billion total.

Tesla has doubled the size of its Cybercab fleet operating under its Robotaxi program in Austin, Texas, to more than 100 vehicles over the weekend. The expansion adds more steering-wheel-free and pedal-free Cybercabs to Tesla's ride-hailing service, with riders reportedly receiving notifications through the Robotaxi app stating that the "Cybercab fleet has doubled: more rides available." Cybercab availability increased from 58 vehicles on Sept. 21, 2026, to 125 on Sept. 25, 2026, a substantial expansion that could help address previously lengthy wait times for Cybercab rides. Tesla began offering Cybercab rides in early September, while its broader Robotaxi service has been operating for more than a year, with initial rides starting last summer. Cybercab rides remain limited to Austin, though the vehicles have been spotted testing across several U.S. states and regions, and Tesla has indicated plans to expand deployments to additional U.S. cities in the coming months.

DoorDash unveiled its purpose-built autonomous aircraft powered by DoorDash Air and outlined plans for an end-to-end drone delivery system designed to scale for all local businesses. Pilot drone deliveries will begin in Northern California in partnership with national restaurant brands including Chipotle Mexican Grill and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, along with local restaurant Momo N Curry. DoorDash said about 80% of today's typical restaurant orders are light and small enough for the aircraft to carry safely, and that initial tests showed delivery times from restaurant to consumer's door averaging under five minutes. The system runs on DoorDash's Autonomous Delivery Platform, the same platform coordinating Dashers, the Dot ground robot, and third-party autonomous delivery partners, and the company said it has already completed hundreds of thousands of lifetime autonomous deliveries. Harrison Shih, Head of DoorDash Air, said the team started with how local businesses actually operate rather than with the aircraft, building ground infrastructure, loading systems, packaging, and order data first.

Inbolt, a Paris-based company that gives industrial robots real-time 3D vision and AI-driven control, has raised $12.5M in a funding round led by new investor Shift4Good, bringing its total funding to $34M. Bridges Climate Transition Partners joined the round, alongside existing investors BNP Paribas Développement and Ora Global. The capital will fund Inbolt's expansion in the US, where it opened a Detroit office in 2026, and in APAC, as well as its entry into two new sectors: data centers and electronics manufacturing. Inbolt's hardware-agnostic software runs natively on major robot platforms including FANUC, ABB, KUKA, Yaskawa, Comau and Universal Robots, and is already deployed on more than 200 robots in over 100 factories across three continents, with clients including Bosch, Beko, Flex, Ford, Stellantis and Toyota. Founded in 2019 by Rudy Cohen, Albane Dersy and Louis Dumas, Inbolt was ranked third on the Sifted 100: France & Benelux on the strength of a two-year revenue CAGR of over 500%.

Seeing Machines Limited published a Technical Paper demonstrating how robots and other Physical AI systems can achieve real-time 3D human understanding directly on embedded hardware. The paper presents the company's Human Mesh Recovery technology, a core capability of its Human-Centred Physical AI Platform launched in August 2026, which uses a single camera view to reconstruct a detailed 3D representation of a person so a machine can understand their location, posture and movement in real time. Deployed on NVIDIA Jetson Thor hardware, the technology delivers up to 180 FPS while combining state-of-the-art accuracy with low latency and compact model size, and the HMR model supports both standard RGB cameras and RGB-D cameras without increasing its parameter count. CEO Paul McGlone said the technology brings detailed 3D human understanding into real-world environments such as factories, hospitals and warehouses, drawing on Seeing Machines' 25 years of human-sensing expertise. Seeing Machines, founded in 2000 and headquartered in Australia, operates across Australia, the USA, Europe and Asia.