January 2026 Robotics Recap

Robotics 24/7’s new podcast series, “Robotics Recap” takes a look at the biggest news from around the automation and robotics industry.

Below is a transcript of the January 2026 robotics recap, with links to all the content described in the episode.

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Robotics Recap intro and Peerless Media news

Hello and welcome back to the Robotics 24/7 podcast. This is Tim Culverhouse, Editorial Director of Robotics 24/7 at Peerless Media, and I'd like to welcome you to the debut episode of our new podcast series titled “Robotics Recap.”

Now, at the end of every month, we'll take a look back at all the news that we covered on Robotics 24/7, including a full spectrum tour of the robotics world. Now, there are always new things going on around robotics, and we're so excited that you come to us for that coverage, and we'll cover everything that we can on the site. And this month, especially as we kick off 2026, we've got a pretty wide coverage area from delivery robots, humanoids, software and other interesting advancements in the warehousing and logistics space.

Out of everything that we've posted on Robotics 24/7 in January 2026, it’s that robotics is scaling fast, coordination is now almost as important as the robot itself, and I'm excited that you tuned in to the start of this new series, again called “Robotics Recap,” and looking forward to going over the major headlines from January 2026.

Before we get into the full headlines, some housekeeping and some exciting announcements from Robotics 24/7 and Peerless Media.

First off, we have our 2026 predictions piece. Over 30 industry experts participated in our 2026 predictions, dealing outside, again, of just humanoids, but also artificial intelligence, new advancements across the robotics industry, and what that means for 2026 and beyond. Make sure you give that a read if you haven't already a lot of great insights from some really important people in the robotics space.

Also, Robotics 24/7 announced our session call for the 2026 Robotics Applications Conference (RAC 26). If your organization is interested in submitting a session to speak at RAC 26 this September, please click on the link below and make sure that you submit your session and we'll get in touch with more details.

Also, Robotics 24/7 and Peerless Media announced our inaugural Executive Advisory Board. Now we have 12 members from around the robotics industry that we're excited to have part of this board. Make sure you read more details about that and from the organizations that are participating in our EAB. We're excited to have them on board and do some fun things with them as we move forward.

Lastly, we posted the 2026 conference schedule. We are at the end of January. We had our first conference that the Robotics 24/7 staff attended. That was the A3 Business Forum in Orlando in the middle of January, and we're just starting the robotics conference schedule for this year. We're going to have some exciting coverage, both in person and remotely, for the conferences going on around the North American landscape, but also around the world. So make sure you stick with us for all your robotics conference coverage in 2026 and beyond. More details regarding our MODEX preview coming out in the coming months as well. We're really excited to get on the ground in Atlanta in April.

CES 2026 full of robotics and automation news

Speaking of the conference schedule, obviously, January kicks off the year with CES and there was no shortage of important news that happened at CES 2026 on the West Coast to start off January this year. First and foremost, NEURA Robotics showcased next-gen humanoids at that event. The German-based company continues to make headlines in that space.

More on the humanoid front, Boston Dynamics came out with a new version of their Atlas humanoid, and announced, in collaboration with Hyundai, that they're already deploying it in factories. So big news from Boston Dynamics and the deployment of humanoids in that space. And we'll be hitting humanoids a lot this podcast, as we will every month, because they are becoming, not that they are becoming, they already are an integral part of the robotics landscape across manufacturing, logistics, supply chain and warehouse.

Also on the humanoid-related coverage here, NVIDIA, their technology is becoming the default backbone for humanoid programs. They announced the partnership with Siemens also at CES, continuing their expansion in the AI world.

Then also, the company, Humanoid, also completed a proof of concept with Siemens to test humanoid robots and industrial logistics.

Other news that came out of CES this year, Universal Robots and Robotiq showcased a palletizing offering also in collaboration with Siemens.

Gemini 3D cameras from Orbbec were released at the show. Those are used for robotic perception.

And then two more announcements, Mobileye announced its intention to acquire humanoid robot startup Mentee Robotics for a $900 million price tag.

XELA Robotics demoed a 3d tactile sensor that the company says ‘gives robots a human sense of touch.’

A lot of news out of CES I got to cover that remotely this year, and we're glad that you could follow us for it.

Human-machine relationship continues to evolve

A couple of other elements now, as we move into the next segment of stories from January 2026, and it's the human-robot relationship. And you know how that sort of acceptance is being achieved across a wide variety of deployments, and you know whether that means funding or deployments or proof of concepts.

Public approval has become a major element in the robotics world, and first from that side of the operation, Starship Technologies came in with a new study at the end of January that showcased a 97% approval rating related to autonomous delivery robots on college campuses. And now it's not even just tolerance of these technologies that's the headline in this, it's the approval. Students at these college campuses see these robots as helpful, reliable, and just kind of part of the campus life and the college experience. Starship has various deployments around college campuses and other parts of the world, and from the study that they commissioned, we see that high level of approval rating going on.

MassRobotics announced its fifth cohort of the Healthcare Robotics startup, another element of public approval for robotics in that segment.

And then Simbe Robotics unveiled Tally 4.0, which is its next generation, autonomous retail robot, already deployed in various retail segments around the United States. My takeaway from these couple of news announcements from January this year is that robots are really kind of no longer a novelty in the right environment. They're becoming part of the infrastructure, whether that's for delivery or for scanning in the healthcare space. There's no shortage of different robotic deployments that are going on around the world, and specifically in North America, with these organizations that we just mentioned here.

Orchestration takes center stage

Moving on, orchestration was a major talking point on Robotics 24/7 and 2026 and related to that, the latest Special Focus Issue from us came out earlier this year, “Warehouse enterprise software orchestrates the robots,” and explores how various warehouse software platforms now making it clear that software Is the multiplier for robotic deployments around different spaces. Specifically in the warehouse for this SFI, you can download it now below and follow along with all the interesting news related to that.

Some other orchestration warehouse software news from around the world, Botsync secured Series A funding that it plans to use to scale AMRs and orchestration. The Singapore-based company received that funding and looks to expand its operations outside of the Asian marketplace.

Two stories from that Special Focus Issue. First, an in-depth look at enMotion WES from envista and how that platform unifies inter logistics processes.

And then GreyMatter from GreyOrange, and how that platform acts as the brain of the warehouse.

Two other orchestration stories from January 2026, Locus Robotics announced it has coordinated 25 million picks at its deployment with Radial with the LocusBot platform.

And then Contoro Robotics is automating trailer unloading at an industrial scale, thanks to its partnership with States Logistics and how that organization saw increased throughput and higher levels of trailer offloading in one year of its deployment.

Now robots and these organizations that we just highlighted in this section, they're more than just machines, and what that means for these deployment organizations that the systems that these robotics vendors are putting out there, they're making robots, these fleets behave like one organism, and how orchestration is becoming such an integral part of the robotic deployment, especially at the higher level, for site managers, plant managers and just overall management segments in the robotics world.

Robotic components and hardware news

Some news in the components space.

Balluff’s new GigE vision cameras came out earlier in January.

Metaphase released ultra-bright machine vision lighting technologies.

Neugart has a new gearbox series that the organization says is designed for high-speed Delta robots.

Mayr, on the safety side, has a new braking system that's focused on intelligent safety. And then also FORT Robotics came out with a new safety controller platform as well.

SS Innovations developed an ultra-miniaturized surgical instrument series to be used in various healthcare settings.

Emergent Vision has a new software development kit (SDK) and Siemens expanded its Run MyRobot CNC platform, in partnership with Kuka and another organization. They’re taking that control element right onto the robot platform for CNC machining.

Robotics is getting more integrated as we continue along in this industry. Sensors, motion safety and AI, are all part of this ecosystem that moves these machines at very precise and increasingly safe ways around humans, and what that means for everybody involved in that ecosystem and how these machines can operate in kind.

Humanoid robot news suggests hype over reality

Now, we did hit on humanoids already in this podcast, but it's time to do it once again. First off, a study from Gartner predicts fewer than 20 organizations will successfully scale humanoid robots for manufacturing or supply chain processes by 2028

I do want to say that this study from Gartner, and I don't want to necessarily call it pessimistic, but the research organization wants to call it clarity, and there's a constant battle for the Robotics 24/7 staff. Anybody who's reading our site, listening to this podcast, it's always hype versus reality, and I don't have a clear answer to that. I don't know if or when we ever will, but it was quite interesting to see this study from Gartner highlight that in just a couple of years, not even 20 organizations will have humanoids at scale in these manufacturing and supply chain settings.

But with that said, we are seeing more progress like the news I listed above.

Schaeffler announced a strategic humanoid partnership with the company Humanoid, the UK based company, and they will continue their partnership and deployment of humanoid robots. Schaeffler is also working on major components, elements from the actuator space with humanoid robots.

Now I do want to say that humanoids aren't replacing it with everything. This is something that these organizations and robotics as a whole generally have a hard time conveying the message that robots aren't replacing humans, and that's a constant PR battle that folks face, and that we put out the news and try to stay just to the news. But humanoids aren't replacing everything.

Humanoids aren't replacing labor. Robots aren't replacing labor. It's these selective deployments where flexibility beats specialization that we continue to highlight and how these organizations are combating labor shortages with these advancements in technology.

AI moves from screens to hands

Now, speaking of advancements in technology, we wouldn't be discussing the robotics landscape without AI and what's going on in the AI segment. And I want to say some of the stories from this month were really focusing on aren't just AI with robotics, but how people are working with robotics through artificial intelligence.

ProGlove released the ActivityAI voice assistant that's built into its wearable scanning devices.

FounTech has a predictive AI system that achieved over 85% accuracy in predicting human responses.

Multiply Labs is scaling advanced biomanufacturing with NVIDIA platforms in the bioengineering and healthcare settings.

GrayMatter Robotics announced it's using AI for complex canopy sanding and a contract with the United States Air Force. And then Lanner Electronics launched an NVIDIA Blackwell-powered robotic AI platform.

What we're seeing with this is AI moving out of dashboards and into hands, voices, motion control and again, more ways for humans to interact with AI than we've seen in the past, and it's, you know, the future interface. I'll summarize it this way. Robotics isn't on a screen. It's through natural language processing, prediction, autonomy, and that interactivity between human and machine.

Robotic funding and investment news

We had somebody before the start of 2026, as one of our conversations was wrapping up last year, saying that 2026 will be a year of funding, mergers and acquisitions, closures, etc, that you can expect one a week over the course of 2026.

We are at the last week of January, and we already had some major funding and merger news that we've hit on already. We have more coming in this segment here, but that's something that we're keeping our eyes on at Robotics 24/7 is highlighting how the finances and growth, decline, combination, however you want to phrase it, are going to be a big part of this industry moving forward.

Serve Robotics made news in the middle of January as it acquired Diligent Robotics, expanding its physical AI platform, serve well known for its autonomous delivery, spinning out of Uber Eats. It acquired Diligent, which is an autonomous delivery robot in the hospital and healthcare field company. We'll see what that partnership yields between those two AMR organizations.

Vention secured $110 million in funding for its physical AI platform specifically geared toward the manufacturing space.

And the ARM Institute, some more startup accelerator news here, the ARM Institute issued a new workforce development call for the Pittsburgh-based organization.

And another piece of news for MassRobotics, as it opened applications for its latest design challenge.

Another piece of news in the delivery space as well, as we wrap up our coverage of January 2026. Drone delivery continues to be a major element on the retail space, and we had Wing and Walmart make an announcement at NRF 2026 in New York City that their home delivery via drone service will be expanding to 150 new stores throughout 2026.

Wing and Walmart just expanded to Houston and Charlotte in the middle of this month, with more locations targeted for the remainder of this year. And as we see more autonomous drone delivery in the retail space. We'll certainly keep our eyes on it.

January 2026 robotics news recap

This news shows that the robotics industry isn't slowing down in any way, shape, or form. It's organizing. It's scaling, and we'll continue keeping our eyes on it as we move forward.

As we wrap up the January 2026 episode of “Robotics Recap,” I just want to say that my big takeaways are that it's not just flashy demos anymore with these organizations.

It's integration. It's orchestration. It's safety. It's trust.

And you know what we have to combat with for these robotics organizations is that it's not just the systems, it's people, and making sure that everybody's playing catch-up and following along with the news that hopefully you are here on Robotics 24/7.

That will wrap up our January 2026 “Robotics Recap.”

Make sure you subscribe, download, and read the content on Robotics 24/7, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. You can interact with me on LinkedIn as well, or send me an email.

We're so glad you could tune in for this January 2026 review of what happened in the robotics world, and we look forward to seeing you next month for the February “Robotics Recap.”

Thanks again, and we'll talk to you again soon.