Google DeepMind launches three-month robotics accelerator for 15 European startups
Google DeepMind selects 15 early-stage robotics companies across Europe for intensive mentorship, AI model access, and technical support to commercialize physical AI applications.
StrictlyVC Los Angeles brings defense tech and physical AI into focus on June 18
Industry event at Aerospace Corporation campus features founders and investors discussing hard tech, autonomy, and venture trends in emerging categories.
How AI Companies Are Paying People to Film Household Chores
Robotics firms are scaling physical AI training data by paying consumers and gig workers to record everyday tasks, raising privacy and labor questions.
Shift offers free home cleaning in exchange for robot training footage
An AI startup is launching a free cleaning service that records workers to gather training data for household robots.
StrictlyVC brings defense tech and physical AI focus to Los Angeles in June
TechCrunch's invitation-only investor conference lands in El Segundo on June 18, featuring founders and VCs debating autonomy, manufacturing, and the reshaping of hard tech.
The Rise of Egocentric Data: How Gig Workers Are Training Humanoids for Pennies
First-person video collection is becoming a booming market for robot training data, but workers are earning minimal wages for highly specialized labor.
Chef Robotics Deploys Meal-Assembly Robots at San Francisco Nonprofit
Project Open Hand partners with Chef Robotics to automate plating for medically tailored meals, addressing volunteer shortages in the Tenderloin.
Google's I/O 2026 Dialogues: Six Technical Sessions Span AI Agents, Quantum Computing, and Creative AI
Google hosted panel discussions on AI agents, quantum computing, robotics, and creative applications at I/O 2026's Dialogues stage.
How AI Coding Agents Are Unlocking Hands-On Robotics
A Wired journalist paired OpenClaw with a LeRobot arm, showing how large language models can now configure, train, and control physical robots without specialized expertise.
Google DeepMind integrates Street View into Genie world model for real-world simulation
Project Genie can now generate interactive simulations anchored to real streets using 280 billion images from 20 years of Street View data collection.
NVIDIA Cosmos Predict 2.5 Fine-Tuning with LoRA/DoRA Cuts Robot Video Model Training to Single GPU
Hugging Face publishes parameter-efficient fine-tuning guide for NVIDIA's 2B-parameter world model, enabling domain adaptation for robotic manipulation on consumer hardware.
TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 Ticket Deadline Arrives as Programming Tracks Map AI's Real-World Turn
A buy-one-get-one-half-off ticket deal for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 expires before midnight Pacific on May 8, as six programming stages signal where AI is actually deploying.
Runway CEO Cristóbal Valenzuela: AI Video Is the Prequel, Not the Feature
Runway's CEO argues the company's video tools are a foundation for general world models with applications in gaming, robotics, and beyond.
The Robot That Screws In a Light Bulb: Eka's Dexterity Moment
Cambridge startup Eka has built a robot arm that does what no commercial arm can — and its founders say scaling is all that stands between here and a revolution.
Scout AI Raises $100 Million to Build 'Military AGI' for Autonomous Combat
Defense startup Scout AI closes a nine-figure Series A to develop Fury, an AI model designed to command military assets and eventually autonomous weapons.