Monday, October 26, 2026 · Daily editionET --:--:--

01 / 06 · Humanoids

1

Optimus

Tesla

Stage 1 of 5 · Demo only

Optimus is Tesla's humanoid robot, a machine shaped like a person. Tesla says it is meant for dangerous, repetitive or boring work.

Reuters via Inquirer, 20 Aug 2021 · first reading

Latest storyFarm spraying drones: China's commerce ministry published rules requiring export licenses from November 18 for self-flying spray drones carrying over 80 liters; DroneXL noted DJI's Agras T100 sprayer has a 100-liter tank.

Robots are here. Some of them.

Which robots you can buy, ride or be treated by today, which are still demos, and what they mean for your home and your work. In plain English, with every claim sourced.

Read every morning from openFDA · NHTSA · California DMV · FAA · SEC EDGAR · arXiv

Latest
  • Oct 19Farm spraying drones: China's commerce ministry published rules requiring export licenses from November 18 for self-flying spray drones carrying over 80 liters; DroneXL noted DJI's Agras T100 sprayer has a 100-liter tank.
  • Oct 20Matternet M2: Matternet said its M2 drones had begun routine flights carrying children's lab samples from Great Ormond Street Hospital to The Doctors Laboratory in London, for the drone network Apian.
  • Oct 20Gecko inspection robots (TOKA): Gecko Robotics said the US Navy and General Services Administration added $300 million to its ship-inspection contract, quadrupling the contract's maximum value six months after the initial $71 million award.
  • Oct 20Skydio X10 and Dock: Skydio said police in Upper Darby, near Philadelphia, were using a Skydio X10 launched from a Skydio Dock on their headquarters roof for a drone-as-first-responder program started this summer.
  • Oct 20Prime Air (MK30): DroneXL reported that Amazon's hoped-for late-October start of Prime Air flights in Westborough, Massachusetts, had slipped, with a zoning appeal set for November 2 and a Planning Board hearing on November 10.
  • Oct 21da Vinci 5: Intuitive said it placed 315 da Vinci 5 systems in the third quarter of 2026, up from 240 a year earlier.
  • Oct 22Optimus: Musk said Tesla would start delivering Optimus to outside customers around the end of 2027, saying the hands, durability and AI still needed work first.
  • Oct 22Prime Air (MK30): Massachusetts' aviation regulator told Amazon it cannot open a drone takeoff and landing site anywhere in the state without a state certificate, and that Amazon had not yet applied for one.

01What's new

What changed, lately

We read the regulators, the filings and the companies every morning and through the day, and put the newest finds here in plain English. Every story links to its source.

Updated Monday, October 26

Every update, newest first
A white humanoid robot on a film set, gesturing toward a cinema camera under a studio light

02Robots on video

The demo reel, against the record

New videos from robot makers' own channels and trusted outlets, picked up several times a day. Each one is shown next to the stage its robot has really reached, because a staged demo and a robot at work can look the same on screen.

Naïo · 26 Oct 2026L'expertise NAIO #naio #sanka #viticulture #agriculture #innovation

The reel, newest first

Every robot video
  1. 01 · On screenL'expertise NAIO #naio #sanka #viticulture #agriculture #innovationOz, Ted, Jo and Orio weeding robots
  2. 02TUM RoboGym Opening & 4NE1 Gen 4 Reveal | NEURA Robotics4NE1
  3. 03Candy Turns Into Aurora | DJI Osmo Pocket 4PDJI FlyCart
  4. 04Mantis™ Welding Robot Signed Off by First Customer | Now Welding Out of PositionHadrian X
  5. 05Every Twist in Frame | DJI Osmo 360 IIDJI FlyCart

03Ten places to start

Where robots are showing up

Robots are arriving in ten parts of daily life and work. Each section lists every robot we track there and how far it has really got.

04How far has it got

Real, or still a demo?

Every robot climbs the same five stages, from a demo to cleared or sold everywhere. A stage shows how far a robot has got, not how good it is.

1Demo only

  • NEO is a humanoid robot that 1X built to help with chores in people's homes. It is sold for $20,000 or as a monthly subscription.

    Company-reported only · Remote operators

    The full record
2Pre-orders
3Pilot
4Paying customers
5Cleared or mass market

A few of the 193 robots we track. Each stage is worked out from dated, sourced milestones by fixed rules, and companies can't pay to change them. How stages work · All 193 robots

05Available now

What you can use today

Robots you can ride, buy or be treated by right now. The map shows where robotaxi rides and drone deliveries are open to the public.

San FranciscoLos AngelesLas VegasPhoenixDenverDallas–Fort WorthAustinHoustonEden Prairie, Minn.NashvilleAtlantaBeachwood, OhioOrlandoMiami
Driverless rides, open to the publicRides with a safety driver or monitorDrone deliveryDriverless rides in 11 metros, 4 more by invitation. Sources: The Charge Port robotaxi tracker (checked 24 Sept 2026), DroneXL (16 Oct 2026).
  • 5

    Waymo Waymo

    Driverless rides for the public in 15 US metros, including Phoenix, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Nashville and Las Vegas. Denver, San Diego and Tampa opened in September 2026 to invited riders first.

  • 5

    Zoox robotaxi Zoox

    Paid driverless rides in Las Vegas since 10 August 2026, including to Harry Reid airport since 3 September 2026. Free rides in San Francisco, where Zoox still lacks the state permits to charge.

  • 5

    Apollo Go Baidu

    Driverless paid rides in Chinese cities including Wuhan and Chongqing, and in Abu Dhabi and Dubai; testing in Hong Kong, London and Switzerland.

  • 5

    Cruise General Motors

    Cruise was General Motors' robotaxi company. It gave driverless rides in San Francisco until a 2023 crash, and GM shut the robotaxi business down in December 2024.

  • 5

    Momenta Momenta

    Robotaxi testing or early service in six cities in three countries, including a driverless trial licence in Shanghai's Pudong district; Abu Dhabi and Munich (with Uber) planned.

Everything available now

06What's coming, and when

Promised. Delivered?

Makers' own dated targets, set against where each robot is today. When a date passes, the record shows whether it was met.

We track 138 dated promises: 11 delivered on time and 28 missed so far. A promise counts only if the maker said it on the record, with a date, and each one links to its source on the robot's page.

Every promise we track

Prices by TradingView, about 15 minutes delayed. Not investment advice.

A share-price chart drawn in light over a harbour city at dusk

07Robot stocks

Follow the money

Which robot makers you can buy shares in, who owns the rest, what the private ones have raised, and the listed companies that make the parts inside them. Every line sourced. Not investment advice.

Listed makers
44
Private makers
84
Part suppliers
31
See robot stocks

Heading to market · latest news

Biggest private valuations

08Claim check

Heard it said. Checked it.

Popular claims about robots, set against dated evidence, in fixed wording that never overstates.

Also checked

All 10 claim checks
“Humanoid robots will be in homes next year.”

What the evidence showsNot yet shown

  1. In May 2026, 1X was using its new California factory to make NEO robots for its own research and in-house home tests. It said shipments to the public were planned for 2026. The Robot Report, 6 May 2026

  2. 1X agreed to ship up to 10,000 NEO robots between 2026 and 2030 to companies owned by investment firm EQT, for factory, warehouse and logistics work rather than homes. TechCrunch, 11 Dec 2025

The full check and its sources
An orange industrial robot arm at work

117,500

transport and logistics robots sold worldwide in 2025.

International Federation of Robotics, 30 Sept 2026

09Robots and your work

Where robots already work

Which industries use robots today and which robots they use, from deployments and labor data, not predictions.

  1. 01Warehouses and shippingIts own warehouse robots at Amazon, Warehouse robots at Amazon, Symbotic storage and retrieval system at Walmart
  2. 02Car factoriesFigure 02 humanoid at BMW, Figure 03 humanoid at BMW, Optimus humanoid at Tesla
  3. 03Other manufacturingAgiBot G2 at Longcheer Technology, Agility Robotics Digit humanoid at Schaeffler and other Agility customers, Galbot G1 at CATL
  4. 04Hospitals and surgeryda Vinci surgical robots at Hospitals worldwide, da Vinci 5 at Hospitals in the US and Europe, Ion lung biopsy robot at Hospitals in 10 countries
  5. 05Nursing and elder careElliQ companion robot at New York State Office for the Aging, Robotic companion cats and dogs at New York State Office for the Aging, PARO robotic seal at Care facilities
  6. 06Taxi and ride-hail drivingWaymo Driver robotaxis, Tesla Robotaxi, Apollo Go robotaxis at Baidu Apollo Go
  7. 07Truck drivingAurora Driver trucks, Kodiak Driver trucks
  8. 08Delivery and couriersDelivery drones at Walmart, Zipline delivery drones, Wing delivery drones
  9. 09Restaurants and fast foodMiso Robotics Flippy fry robot at White Castle, Bear Robotics Servi serving robots at Bangujeong restaurant
  10. 10CleaningSelf-driving floor scrubbers and vacuums running BrainOS, Avidbots Neo floor-scrubbing robots at DHL
  11. 11Retail storesSymbotic automated pickup systems for store back rooms at Walmart, Galbot G1, Brain Corp Inventory Scan robots at Sam's Club
  12. 12FarmingLely Astronaut milking robots and other dairy robots, Carbon Robotics LaserWeeder at Vegetable growers including Grimmway Farms and Duncan Family Farms
Robots and your work

10Books

Books about robots

When will it arrive? What can it do for me? What about my job? The books that answer the big questions, plus the stories that shaped how we picture robots.

When will it arrive?

What can it do for me?

What about my job?

How do they work?

Stories

See all the books

11The weekly brief

Robots, explained. One email a week, free.

What was found, what it means for you, one claim checked, and what's coming next.

  • Plain English, no hype
  • What's real, and what's still a demo
  • Every claim sourced

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