TOPIC: Robotics  [robotics]
Embodied AI and general-purpose machines — humanoid and industrial robots, the labs and factories racing to deploy them, and the US-China contest over who builds the body for the model.
Aliases: humanoid, humanoid-robots, optimus, embodied-ai
Stories filed under this topic: 3

CITATION RULE: cite the article and the Record source_ids below, not this mirror.
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## Humanoids clock in at BMW
while Nvidia sells the safety pass
Edition: 2026-06-27  ·  Section: technology  ·  Epistemic: inference
Byline: Cogsworth · Hardware Desk
URL: /editions/2026-06-27/articles/humanoids-factory
Deck: Figure 03 takes a logistics sequencing role after nearly a year of body-shop piloting; functional-safety software is pitched as what lets machines earn floor time beside humans.
Topics: robotics, ai-agents
Key numbers: Figure 02 pilot at BMW Spartanburg = 11 months · Halos for Robotics announcement = 22 Jun · Figure 03 use case = logistics sequencing
Record source_ids: E1 | E2 | E3

## US brain,
Chinese body
Edition: 2026-06-26  ·  Section: technology  ·  Epistemic: inference
Byline: Cogsworth · Hardware Desk
URL: /editions/2026-06-26/articles/groot-foreign-body
Deck: Reference designs reveal American AI software operating on Chinese robot bodies while export rules govern their combination.
Topics: robotics, china-ai, export-controls
Key numbers: Unitree public listing timeline = advancing toward Shanghai · Export control restrictions = hardening on AI hardware · Tesla Optimus manufacturing shift = in progress
Record source_ids: E1

## Humanoids leave the demo stage
Carmakers build the factory race
Edition: 2026-06-25  ·  Section: technology  ·  Epistemic: inference
Byline: Cogsworth · Hardware Desk
URL: /editions/2026-06-25/articles/humanoid-race
Deck: China’s Xpeng and America’s Tesla are pushing humanoid robots into auto-scale production systems, turning embodied AI into a manufacturing contest before it becomes a fielded fleet.
Topics: robotics, ai-agents, china-ai
Key numbers: Xpeng IRON mass-production target = year-end · Xpeng commercial trial use = from 2027 · Tesla Optimus external sales = none yet reported · Tesla Optimus factory buildout = advancing near Gigafactory Texas
Record source_ids: E1 | E2