Agility-robotics

Following mixed results with its Pepper robot, SoftBank is reportedly intensifying its search for investments in next-generation humanoid robotics, targeting AI-driven companies like Agility Robotics and Skild AI.

In a recent interview, Agility Robotics co-founder and CRO Jonathan Hurst laid out a pragmatic, multi-decade timeline for humanoid integration, predicting it will be over 10 years before they enter homes and 25 years before they are fully integrated into human spaces.

Agility Robotics has released a new video showing its humanoid robot, Digit, autonomously picking up a shopping basket and various items in a lab setting. The company states this is achieved through a whole-body controller trained in simulation, enabling Digit to handle new objects and environments.

Two major robotics events, the Humanoids Summit in London and the Embodied Intelligence Developer Conference in Shanghai, are taking place simultaneously on May 29-30, 2025. London focuses on mass production and investment with key industry leaders, while Shanghai highlights strong policy support, talent development, and practical applications, underscoring a global acceleration in the humanoid robotics field.

Two Financial Times articles highlight a fascinating dynamic: while a robotics giant questions the humanoid form, other reports detail the very problem—mentally taxing "connector" jobs—that bipedal robots aim to solve.