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A few hours ago Elon Musk wrapped up the much anticipated ‘We, Robot’ event at the Warner Brothers Studio in Los Angeles. Apart from the previously teased Cybercab, Musk presented the 20 person Robovan. And finally he showed the updates on humanoid robot Optimus, aimed at both industrial and domestic settings. AI Vision is at the heart of these innovations and the first robotaxis will take to the streets of Texas and California next year.

AI startups raised $11.8 billion in venture capital during the third quarter of 2024, despite broader concerns about the sector’s valuations and tightening restrictions on AI chip exports to China. This comes amid a 13% year-over-year drop in overall venture capital (VC) funding, according to data from Stocklytics.com. AI remains the dominant sector for investments, continuing to attract significant capital despite a decline in deal volume.

Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind and Isomorphic Labs, and John Jumper, Director at Google DeepMind, have been awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work on AlphaFold, an artificial intelligence (AI) system that predicts the 3D structures of proteins based on their amino acid sequences. David Baker, recognized for his contributions to computational protein design, shared the prize with them.

The global machine vision (MV) market is projected to expand by USD 8.94 billion between 2024 and 2028, according to a recent report by Technavio. This growth represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.87%, with the market being driven by advancements in automation and cost savings achieved through improved process control.

General Dynamics announced that four of its business units will participate in the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) annual meeting and exposition, set for October 14-16, 2024, in Washington, D.C. The company plans to display a range of military products and solutions, showing AI and robotics technology in defense systems.

Save A Lot has partnered with automation provider Fabric to introduce a robot that reduces the time to assemble a 50-item grocery order to just 6-8 minutes. This development is part of a new micro-fulfillment center in Brooklyn, which marks Save A Lot’s first venture into on-demand, automated grocery delivery. The collaboration combines Fabric’s robotic technology with Save A Lot’s grocery offerings to bring delivery services to New York City, with Uber couriers handling the last-mile logistics.

The robotics market shows contrasting trends in 2024, reflecting divergent performances across sectors and regions. According to recent reports from the Association for Advancing Automation (A3) and the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), while North American robot orders saw an overall decline, the global service robot market experienced substantial growth.

Vanderlande, a company specializing in warehouse automation solutions, has announced a collaboration with Hai Robotics to enhance its offerings in North America. The collaboration will introduce Hai Robotics’ Automated Case-Handling Mobile Robots (ACRs) into Vanderlande’s Tote AV portfolio, expanding the company’s capabilities in warehouse automation.

AI can reduce energy consumption in hotels by up to 30%, potentially lowering both costs and carbon emissions. According to Donatas Karčiauskas, CEO of Exergio, AI-based energy performance tools enable hotels to manage energy use more efficiently without the need for retrofitting. These systems, which adjust energy usage in real-time based on variables such as occupancy and weather, align with the increasing demand for sustainability in the hospitality sector.

Despite advances in robotics, certain professional tools are still missing from the industry. There is room for acceleration in the field by connecting various individual developments. The Rocking Robots team discussed this with Christine Fraser, CEO of Asimovo, a robotics-focused DevOps platform. In her keynote she talked about collaboration between academia and industry and the impact of AI on robotics.