Humanoid robots featured prominently at the 137th Canton Fair in Guangzhou, China, where the newly launched Service Robots Zone drew significant attention from international buyers and industry professionals. The fair, which serves as a major platform for global trade and innovation, introduced the dedicated zone in response to rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, automation, and robotics technology.

Researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University have developed an autonomous driving algorithm for farm robots designed to navigate and operate in raised-bed cultivation environments. The system, developed by Assistant Professor Takuya Fujinaga from the Graduate School of Engineering, enables a robot to travel either to designated locations or alongside elevated cultivation beds using lidar-based environmental mapping.

As artificial intelligence becomes more integrated into business infrastructure, the concept of “AI agents” is shifting from experimental technology to practical enterprise tool. The Salesforce World Tour held recently in Amsterdam focused heavily on the emergence of AI agents as a scalable solution for operational challenges faced across industries. While Salesforce’s Agent Force platform was central to the presentations, the broader message was about the changing nature of work and the growing role of autonomous systems in customer-facing and back-office functions.

ABB has announced plans to spin off its Robotics division into a separately listed company, with the proposed listing expected in the second quarter of 2026. The company intends to present the spin-off proposal for approval at its 2026 Annual General Meeting. If approved, the spin-off will be executed through a dividend in-kind, with ABB shareholders receiving shares in the new entity, provisionally named ABB Robotics, in proportion to their current holdings.

At the 137th China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair), held in Guangzhou, China, a new Service Robots Zone was introduced for the first time, highlighting developments in robotics for domestic and commercial applications. The 4,200-square-meter exhibition area featured 46 companies presenting robotic solutions for tasks such as coffee preparation, lawn maintenance, household cleaning, and food service.

Daimon Robotics has announced the official launch of its new product line focused on embodied intelligence technologies, according to a company statement issued on April 16 from Shenzhen, China. The lineup includes three main offerings: the DM-Tac W vision-based tactile sensor, the DM-Hand1 robotic hand, and the DM-EXton wearable teleoperation data collection system.

Scout AI, a robotics and artificial intelligence company, has emerged from stealth with the announcement of a $15 million seed funding round and the launch of its foundation model, Fury, for defense applications. The Sunnyvale-based startup also disclosed that it has secured two contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense.

Overland AI has introduced a fully autonomous tactical ground vehicle designed for military use, called ULTRA. The vehicle integrates Overland AI’s OverDrive autonomy software and SPARK hardware, and is engineered to perform in complex, GPS-denied environments without direct operator input.

AI company Hugging Face has acquired Pollen Robotics, a French startup making the humanoid robot Reachy 2. As part of the acquisition, Hugging Face will make both the hardware and software designs of Reachy 2 open source, in addition to continuing to sell the physical robot. The company’s leadership has indicated that this approach is intended to encourage widespread experimentation and faster technological progress in robotics, drawing parallels with how open-weight AI models have accelerated developments in machine learning.

A new study published in the Journal of Science Communication (JCOM) reports that highly realistic AI-generated avatars may be more effective in fostering trust during science communication than stylized, cartoon-like avatars. Conducted by Jasmin Baake and colleagues at the Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS) in Bochum, Germany, the research challenges the assumption that hyper-realistic digital avatars risk triggering the “uncanny valley” effect—a phenomenon in which near-human likenesses evoke discomfort or distrust among viewers.