EngineAI’s T800 humanoid enters mass production for $25k
PLUS: Ex-Tesla vets launch UMA, HMND 01 walks in 48 hours, and inside China’s robot training factory
Welcome back to your Robot Briefing
EngineAI just put the T800 humanoid into mass production with a $25,000 starting price—the kind of number that transforms robots from research projects into actual purchase decisions for factories and warehouses. With ex-Tesla talent launching UMA in Paris and London's Humanoid racking up 19,000 pre-orders, the humanoid space is suddenly crowded with companies betting on the same thesis: the hardware is ready, the price is right, and customers are waiting.
But can any of them deliver robots that actually work reliably enough to justify the investment?
In today's Robot update:
The 'T800' is Here: EngineAI Unveils $25k Humanoid
Snapshot: EngineAI has officially launched the T800, a full-size humanoid robot priced starting at 180,000 yuan (approximately $25,000), marking a significant milestone in making humanoid robots commercially accessible with mass production capabilities.
Breakdown:
Takeaway: The T800's $25k starting price and production-ready status represent a meaningful step toward making humanoid robots economically viable for real-world industrial applications. EngineAI's focus on full-stack proprietary technology—from joints to batteries to dexterous hands—positions the company to scale manufacturing while maintaining control over core performance capabilities.
Ex-Tesla & DeepMind Vets Launch 'UMA' for Physical AI
Snapshot: UMA, a new Paris-based robotics company founded by former leaders from Tesla Optimus, Google DeepMind, Nvidia, and Hugging Face, launched this week with plans to deploy mobile and humanoid robots for logistics and healthcare applications.
Breakdown:
Takeaway: UMA's launch signals that experienced AI practitioners see physical robotics as the next frontier after digital intelligence breakthroughs. With structural labor shortages driving demand in warehousing and healthcare, the company's focus on production-ready systems over demos could position it well for the coming deployment phase.
From Box to Walking in 48 Hours: Humanoid's New Alpha
Snapshot: London-based robotics developer Humanoid unveiled its HMND 01 Alpha Bipedal—a humanoid robot that achieved stable walking just 48 hours after final assembly and has already secured over 19,000 pre-orders .
Breakdown:
Takeaway: Humanoid's rapid development timeline and massive pre-order numbers signal that the industry is moving beyond prototypes into commercial-scale production. The company's fully booked 2026 proof-of-concept schedule suggests customers are ready to test these systems in real industrial environments.
Inside the Factory Where Humans Teach Robots to Work
Snapshot: A 4,000-square-meter data collection facility in Shanghai employs young operators who use teleoperation to guide humanoid robots through everyday tasks, creating the training data needed to develop autonomous capabilities. This behind-the-scenes operation represents a critical step in transforming robots from controlled machines into independent workers.
Breakdown:
Takeaway: Training robots requires massive amounts of real-world data that can only come from painstaking human demonstration and teleoperation. These data collection factories represent essential infrastructure for scaling humanoid robots from prototypes to practical workers across industries.
Other Top Robot Stories
Johns Hopkins developed an AI system that watches expert surgeons stitch wounds and then coaches medical students in real-time via text message, with students who had solid surgical foundations showing significant improvement over those who only watched training videos.
Victoria Hospitals Foundation launched a $21 million campaign to bring two new surgical robots to Victoria General Hospital—a da Vinci system and a Mazor X neuro-robot—following the success of Royal Jubilee Hospital's first da Vinci robot which enabled patients like Gerald Kersten to return to work in 10 days and cycling in two weeks after prostate surgery.
University of Florida projects that AI will boost agricultural production by 35% by 2030 as the state broke ground on its Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture, with the robotic harvesting market expected to grow from $236 million in 2022 to $6.8 billion by 2030 amid persistent farm labor shortages.
🤖 Your robotics thought for today:
What's a relationship or connection in your work that exists *because* of friction and difficulty—and what would you lose if a robot removed it?
P.S. What's your take on this?
Until tomorrow,
Uli
