Samsung robots for surgery, UK's biggest seed round, Boston Dynamics employee revolt, and hello BlackBerry!

UK's largest robot seed round: $40M

The hardest part of deploying robots isn't building them. It's training them. Every new task can mean new data, new simulation, new fine-tuning, and that cost can be as much or more than the robots themselves.

Machenta wants to fix that.

The London startup, spun out of Imperial College, raised $40 million in seed funding, co-led by Creandum and Union Square Ventures. Their model is called VDA: Vision, Demo, Action. You show the robot what to do once and it does it. No fine-tuning, no new training run. 

The model is pretrained entirely in simulation, learning not specific tasks, but how to learn from a demonstration.Company-reported results are striking: 74 successful block placements out of 74, 78 successful screwdriver handovers out of 78. The same model runs across six different robot platforms, with different cameras and different teaching methods.

Of course, controlled demonstrations aren't the same as commercial reliability. But it looks interesting so far.

Boston Dynamics: selling robots to ICE

Two big Boston Dynamics stories this week, pointing in very different directions.

First, the ethics story.

Boston Dynamics is supplying four modified Spot robots to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement through an integrator called RADeCO. The contract is worth $1.3 million. But about 300 employees signed a petition asking leadership to stop the deal.

Boston Dynamics says the robots are intended for Homeland Security Investigations, helping agents assess potentially dangerous situations before sending people in. The company also prohibits using its robots as weapons or for harm and intimidation.

Employees say working with ICE damages the company's reputation, violates its values, and could drive people away, but the company is proceeding.

This is a question every robot maker will eventually confront: how responsible are you for how your customers use your products?

Atlas prepares for 10,000 robots

Meanwhile, Boston Dynamics is building out a Korean-led supply chain for Atlas, one of the most capable humanoid robots on the planet. According to Korean reporting, suppliers have been asked to prepare for purchase orders covering 10,000 robots.

• Hyundai Mobis will supply all 31 actuators ... and those motors and joints account for roughly 70% of Atlas's component costs.
• Samsung SDI and LG Energy Solution are involved in batteries. 
• NVIDIA provides processors.

These are preparations, not confirmed orders for 10,000 finished robots, but initial purchases could start as early as late 2027.

Digit gets more jobs

GXO and Agility Robotics are expanding their Digit humanoid partnership to two more U.S. warehouses: Statesville, North Carolina, and Lebanon, Tennessee.

Digit has already moved more than 100,000 totes at GXO's Georgia facility. (Please update the number, Agility: it's very old.)

The two new deployments are expected in early 2027, starting with Digit 4 and eventually transitioning to Digit 5. This is one of the most meaningful signals in humanoid robotics: a real customer expanding an existing deployment.

GXO says they haven't hit ROI targets yet, but it's likely that Digit 5 is going to be closer, if not fully achieve them.

Humanoid robots enter the operating room

Samsung Medical Center in South Korea has demonstrated humanoid robots designed to assist surgeons. Working in a simulated operating room, the robots can hand over instruments, respond to voice commands, operate endoscopes, and assist with surgical procedures.

One demonstration showed a surgeon controlling a humanoid's arms to perform precise movements on biological tissue. Another showed two robots working alongside a human surgical team.

The project includes Rainbow Robotics and AIDIN ROBOTICS, with support from South Korea's national medical research program.

The technology still needs clinical validation and regulatory approval ... but imagine operating rooms where robotic assistants handle instruments, positioning, and routine tasks, leaving highly trained surgeons to focus on the most critical work.

The only question: isn't that nurses' work?

Robots building robots (again)

Chinese robotics company ROKAE says it has delivered its 10,000th force-controlled humanoid arm. More than 80 industrial partners have integrated the technology into production applications.

Five of ROKAE's Helios wheeled humanoids are working at Schaeffler's factory in Taicang, China, on a production line for humanoid robot components. They're handling parts, helping with assembly, and inspecting components used to build other robots.

So yeah: we have robots building robots. We're seeing more and more of this lately. I personally witness it in Munich at Agile Robots' factory there.

BlackBerry wants to power physical AI

Remember BlackBerry? The smartphone company?

Well, its QNX operating system is becoming increasingly relevant to robotics and physical AI. In fact, CEO John Giamatteo says robotics is one of QNX's fastest-growing opportunities, with NVIDIA using the technology in its Halos safety platform.

BlackBerry's QNX business grew 20% in its latest reported quarter, with a royalty backlog topping $1.2 billion across its markets. The opportunity is providing reliable, safety-critical software for everything from autonomous forklifts to humanoid robots.

BlackBerry might never make a humanoid, but it wants its software running inside them.

An $89,000 humanoid goes for a walk in New York

Faraday Future took one of its roughly $89,000 humanoid robots for a stroll through Brooklyn Bridge Park in New York City. The robot walked around, sang to children, danced with strangers, and posed for pictures with tourists.

The company says these public outings could help it develop robots for education, companionship, and eventually childcare.

Of course, this time robot was being remotely controlled by Faraday Future's chief technology officer. (You wouldn't want an accident in public.) So this wasn't an autonomous robot figuring out human behavior on its own.

Still, there's value in observing how ordinary people react to humanoids in public. In fact, that's a huge part of making people more comfortable with robots in general, as we've studied.

Number of the day: 185

The number of the day is 185.

That's the percentage increase in global robotics startup funding over the first three quarters of 2026, compared with the same period last year, according to Crunchbase. Just in the third quarter, robotics startups raised $9.9 billion ... more than double the $4.3 billion raised a year earlier.

China and the United States are leading the charge.

Investors are betting billions on physical AI: intelligent machines that can interact with the real world.

Sources

1. UK Startup Bets $40 Million That It Can Train Robots ‘Instantly’ Via Simulation

2. Boston Dynamics employees petition against ICE robot deal

3. Hyundai Mobis to supply Atlas joints, Samsung SDI and LGES batteries

4. GXO and Agility Robotics expand partnership

5. Samsung Medical Center unveils humanoid surgical assistant

6. ROKAE delivers its 10,000th force-controlled humanoid arm

7. BlackBerry CEO sees robotics and physical AI growth opportunity

8. Faraday Future humanoid walks through NYC park

9. Crunchbase: Robotics startup funding grows 185%