Zuckerberg is getting a little scary in his willingness to try new things. Sure, the metaverse didn't take off and Zuck and Andreessen were shown to be false prophets but Meta seems to have weathered that detour just fine, thank you very much and now it's on to humanoid robots which may actually turn into a $20 trillion industry.
First up, from Bloomberg, February 16:
Apple and Meta are set to go toe-to-toe in another emerging area: AI-powered humanoid robots. Also: Apple ramps up development of a new external Mac display, ponders monetizing its maps app for the first time and is racing to bring AI features to China. In other product news, the company is hitting snags with the new Siri, releasing a TV+ app for Android phones and preparing a major Vision Pro software update.
Last week in Power On: Apple’s new iPhone SE will kick off a pivotal year for its smartphone lineup.
The Starters
Apple Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. are already facing off in the market for mixed-reality headsets. Now, they could soon be competing in an even more exciting arena: humanoid robots.
It’s the stuff of science fiction — robots at home that can fold your laundry, bring you a glass of water, load up the dishwasher or even push the kids on the swing in the backyard. For years, that future seemed far off. But it’s getting closer, with help from some of the world’s largest technology companies.
Just like the last two years have focused on artificial intelligence, the coming years promise to bring a frenzy of robotic development — including humanoids and other devices that can move around the home.
This past Friday, Meta staked out a place in this emerging area. It’s starting a new unit within its Reality Labs hardware division that’s dedicated to the development of humanoid technology. While we may see a Meta-branded robot one day, its near-term goal is to build an underlying software platform — the Android, so to speak — that hardware makers can use to get into this space.
Meta thinks it already has an edge in the market. The company has developed sensors and computing technologies for mixed reality, which melds augmented and virtual reality. And it has an AI model called Llama that’s already caught on with much of the industry.
That gives it the best underlying tools for robotic hardware, the company figures. Meta is going to start hiring engineers for the project and believes that it could begin helping other firms bring new humanoids to market in the coming years.
But Meta isn’t alone here. Apple has its own designs on robots, though it will likely go after the category differently. The iPhone maker prefers products where it controls all the inputs — hardware, software and more — and it’s exploring a machine where it could do just that. The idea would be a humanoid that spotlights Apple’s AI and tightly integrated technology.
Apple has advanced AI research teams within its larger machine-learning group focused on developing robotics technologies. There’s also a home hardware engineering group interested in the space. In the near term, the company plans to launch a tabletop device that essentially attaches a robotic limb to a display. It would be a higher-end version of a smart home hub that Apple expects to release this year. There’s also exploratory work being done on a mobile robot — something akin to the Astro from Amazon.com Inc.
An Apple humanoid remains several years away, but it could end up being a rival to Tesla Inc.’s Optimus. That device will see limited production this year, according to Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk. He believes the product could ultimately cost $30,000.
Google’s DeepMind group has also been investigating robotics technology, and it wouldn’t be surprising if the company creates its own software — in line with Android — for this emerging category....
....MUCH MORE
The Edge, March 20
https://www.theedgesingapore.com/views/tech/humanoid-robots-are-here
