Tech companies desperately want to film you doing chores
Tech companies desperately want to film you doing chores This week, an AI training startup called Shift said it would clean New Yorkers’ homes for free. It has plans to expand into other cities as well, including London, and looking around my flat, I get the appeal. But there’s a catch. There’s always a catch. […]
This AI startup will clean your home for free to train future robots
This AI startup will clean your home for free to train future robots AI training startup Shift wants to clean your home for free. The catch – because, despite what its website says, there’s always a catch – is that it will record cleaners as they scrub, vacuum, dust, tidy, and wash, and use that […]
Unitree will sell you a massive ‘transformable mecha’ for $650,000
Unitree will sell you a massive 'transformable mecha' for $650,000 Here’s how the GD01 (seen left) stacks up against Unitree’s CEO and existing humanoid robots. | Image: Unitree Unitree is already one of the most recognizable names in the humanoid robot industry, but now it’s pursuing even nicher sci-fi tech: giant mech suits. The Chinese […]
These new Roombas are smaller and cheaper
These new Roombas are smaller and cheaper iRobot upgrades its lidar-based robot vacuum line with eight new models. | Image: iRobot iRobot has announced a new line of Roombas, a year after it debuted its first lidar-based robot vacuums just prior to filing for bankruptcy. This week, it introduced eight robot vacuums that improve on […]
Inside Dreame’s wild launch event — packed with products no one can buy
Inside Dreame's wild launch event — packed with products no one can buy The San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts hosted the Dreame Next 2026 Tech Summit last week. | Photo by Kelsey McClellan / The Verge Hundreds of influencers, media folks, and a few C-list celebs (sorry, Woz) filled the cavernous halls of the […]
Dyson finally made a better robot, but a worse vacuum
Dyson finally made a better robot, but a worse vacuum The Dyson Spot + Scrub Ai is Dyson’s first combination robot vacuum and mop. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge I’m deeply conflicted about the Dyson Spot + Scrub Ai robot vacuum and mop. It’s the company’s best robotic floor cleaner to […]
Watch Sony’s elite ping-pong robot beat top-ranked players
Watch Sony's elite ping-pong robot beat top-ranked players Ace is the first robot that can beat the best human players while following the official rules of table tennis. | Image: Sony AI Humans have been building ping-pong playing robots for decades, such as Omron’s FOREPHUS that challenged amateur competitors at CES 2017. What sets Ace […]
Humanoid ‘Lightning’ robot smashes the half-marathon record
Humanoid 'Lightning' robot smashes the half-marathon record The autonomous “Lightning” robot finished the race in under an hour. | Photo: VCG / Getty Images An autonomous scarlet robot named “Lightning” finished a 13-mile race in Beijing on Sunday in just 50 minutes and 26 seconds, less than half the time of last year’s fastest robot, […]
Nosh Robotics’ $1,500 robot chef doesn’t need any help with dinner
Nosh Robotics' $1,500 robot chef doesn't need any help with dinner Anyone who finds themselves wishing they could spend less time on meal prep might have a solution in the form of the recently-launched Nosh One from Nosh Robotics, an AI kitchen appliance that can autonomously cook for you. All users need to do is […]
This phone starts fires on purpose
This phone starts fires on purpose Until now, most mobile phone companies have worked to ensure their phones won’t start fires. (Occasional Samsung devices excepted, of course.) But this week at Mobile World Congress, we found a company that dared to go in a different direction. Oukitel’s WP63 rugged smartphone includes a built-in fire starter, […]