Tether bets $81M on Italian humanoid startup
PLUS: Midea’s 6-arm MIRO U, humanoid costs drop 40%, and a 15-foot transformer
Welcome back to your Robot Briefing
Crypto giant Tether just poured $81 million into Generative Bionics, an Italian Institute of Technology spin-off building Physical AI humanoids for factories. It's Europe's largest academic robotics spin-off entering the humanoid market, with industrial deployments set for early 2026.
With Tesla, Figure, and Chinese startups racing for dominance, can an Italian underdog backed by stablecoin money actually compete—or does fresh capital and decades of academic research trump Silicon Valley hype?
In today's Robot update:
Tether bets $81M on 'Made in Italy' humanoids
Snapshot: Stablecoin giant Tether has led a €70 million Series A funding round for Generative Bionics, a spin-off from the Italian Institute of Technology, to accelerate the development of 'Physical AI' robots designed for industrial environments.
Breakdown:
Takeaway: This investment positions Generative Bionics to compete with Tesla and other global players while establishing Italy as a serious contender in humanoid robotics manufacturing. Tether's bet extends its infrastructure investments beyond crypto into physical AI systems that could reshape how robots operate in real-world industrial settings.
Midea unveils 6-armed 'spider' robot for factories
Snapshot: Chinese home appliance giant Midea has unveiled MIRO U , a six-armed industrial humanoid robot that improves production line changeover efficiency by 30% at its washing machine facilities.
Breakdown:
Takeaway: Midea's multi-armed approach challenges the assumption that industrial humanoids must mimic human anatomy, instead prioritizing task efficiency over form. This signals a shift where manufacturers design robots around specific production needs rather than forcing human-like designs into industrial workflows.
Robot costs plummet as 'Physical AI' takes shape
Snapshot: Hardware costs for humanoid robots dropped 40% in just one year according to Goldman Sachs Research, with critical components like Lidar sensors falling from $75,000 to mere hundreds of dollars—paving the way for mass commercial viability.
Breakdown:
Takeaway: The convergence of plummeting hardware costs and advancing AI capabilities marks a tipping point where robots can finally deliver meaningful ROI in real-world applications. What was economically unfeasible just months ago is now becoming a practical reality for businesses evaluating automation investments.
Watch this 15-foot robot transform into a car
Snapshot: Tsubame Industries showcased its Archax mech suit transforming from a standing robot into a drivable vehicle mode, demonstrating capabilities that couldn't fit in standard exhibition spaces.
Breakdown:
Takeaway: This transformer-style robot bridges the gap between science fiction and practical engineering, showing how large-scale piloted mechs continue to push boundaries in mobility and human-robot interaction. The viral response demonstrates sustained public fascination with robots that can adapt their form for different tasks, potentially driving more investment into versatile robotic platforms.
Other Top Robot Stories
Researchers exposed wormable security flaws in Unitree humanoid robots that allow attackers to completely take over devices and automatically compromise other robots within Bluetooth range, highlighting critical cybersecurity gaps as the industry scales toward millions of deployments.
Roboworx calls for manufacturers to build comprehensive service infrastructure now rather than in crisis mode later, arguing that proactive service strategies can reduce operational costs by half while dramatically improving uptime for humanoid robot deployments.
Forbes explores why Physical AI is evolving faster than digital AI, citing plummeting hardware costs and improved manufacturing capabilities as key drivers behind the rapid advancement of embodied intelligence.
🤖 Your robotics thought for today:
What's a limitation you've learned to work *around* that might actually be teaching you something important—would removing it with a robot make you better or just faster?
P.S. What's your take on this?
Until tomorrow,
Uli
