Recognition for Hello Robot, HEBI Robotics and more Hugging Face hackathons

And is Alphabet quietly becoming the Berkshire Hathaway of Tech, AI and Robotics?

May 05, 2025

We loved doing a Le Robot hackathon so much that we’re going to be hosting more at Circuit Launch Mountain View, Circuit Launch Oakland and Frontier Tower SF on June 14 and 15. Stay tuned for details about these specific locations and sign up here:

🚀 Join the LeRobot Worldwide Hackathon - AI Robotics Global Challenge! 🌍 Are you ready to discover robotics with AI? 🌟 Join us for a global hackathon to learn, train, and solve real-world problems using open-source tech!

📅 Date: June 2025, 14-15
📍 Worldwide: Online & Local Hackathons
🚀 Register Now: https://forms.gle/NP22nZ9knKCB2KS18

Deep Tech Week and Hard Tech Venture Summit and USS Hornet Party

PLUS Deep Tech Week is back in SF from June 14 to June 22 and we’re ready to bring robots to the party! Are you interested in taking part? andra@svrobo.org
And don’t forget the Hard Tech Venture Summit in SF on June 18 with Robotics / Hard Tech Manufacturing Workshop on June 19 - in our event calendar below.

Congratulations to Hello Robot and HEBI amongst others in the RBR50

Hello Robot also won the 2020 Silicon Valley Robotics Innovation Award in our Good Robot Awards and was finalist in the 2022 IERA Awards.

Alphabet

Seeking Alpha would like us to believe that “Google’s diverse portfolio, inluding Waymo and other high-potential ventures, mirrors Berkshire Hathaway’s success in acquiring and developing dominant businesses”.

But where else in robotics is Google/Alphabet showing similar strong development in the ecosystem for robotics and autonomous technology? Sure every major company is in on the AI side of things, but I still don’t see Alphabet building the ‘picks and shovels’ of the AI and autonomous embodied AI ecosystem. Do you?

Robotics & AI x Global Impact

Great event at Berkeley on Friday May 2 Innovating Tomorrow: Robotics & AI for Global Impact last Friday! We were thrilled to welcome over 160 participants, and we are incredibly grateful for your presence and energy throughout the day.

The conference was packed with powerful insights across sectors where robotics and AI are already making or are on the way of making a transformative impact. Your curiosity and thoughtful questions helped shape engaging keynotes and panel discussions that truly brought the day to life.

We hope the event gave you fresh perspectives on the current state and future of robotics and AI, and opened the door to meaningful connections with fellow students, researchers, and professionals in the field.

Let’s stay in touch — feel free to connect with the organizing team:

…. I’ll share more about the startups and companies who presented in next newsletter.

COMMUNITY NEWS

The Circuit Launch COMMUNITY PARTS WALLS (at Mountain View and Oakland) are always good places to drop off your excess Raspberry Pis and various components.

PLUS Jim the STEAM Clown, our Mountain View Roboticist in Residence is also looking for stuff for his robotics classrooms/workshops.

DO YOU HAVE OLD ROBOT VACUUM CLEANERS???
HOW ABOUT SURPLUS USB POWER SUPPLIES??
AND ANY ELECTRONICS COMPONENTS (throughput or surface mount)
…. and he’s always looking for extra servos and stepper motors etc. too

Donate your SURPLUS STUFF at Circuit Launch!

Ready to build something massive?

Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) is now accepting applications for all 2025/26 program streams across our global sites.

If you’re a founder developing a science- or technology-based venture with the potential for massive scale, this is your opportunity to work with world-class mentors, serial entrepreneurs, investors, scientists, and operators who’ve built and backed industry-defining companies.

Apply now and accelerate your path to success.

What You’ll Get

Focused mentorship from accomplished entrepreneurs and investors
Technical guidance from leading scientists and engineers
Objective-setting to sharpen your strategy and drive execution
Zero equity fees to participate
Access to CDL’s global network of founders, funders, and researchers

How to Apply

Select the stream(s) and site(s) that best match your venture and vision. You can apply to multiple streams.

Application Deadlines

Early Deadlines:

CDL Quantum: June 9, 2025 @ 11:59PM ET
CDL Web3: June 15, 2025 @ 11:59PM ET
CDL-Atlantic Prime: July 4, 2025 @ 11:59PM ET

All other CDL Sites and Streams:

Final Deadline: July 25, 2025 @ 11:59PM ET

Start your application by filling out the form here:

IERA AWARD

The IERA Award is calling for submissions, deadline May 31st, if you are world class in robotics innovation and commercialization. The award is hosted by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) and the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Industry Activities Board. Previous winners include many famous names.

Silicon Valley Robotics Startup & Investor Database

Are you a startup fundraising atm? Fill out our "For Investors Eyes Only" sheet.

Are you an accredited investor interested in seeing robotics startups? Sign up here!

Thank you for reading Robots & Startups. This post is public so feel free to share it.Robot Events

Freddy the Robot Was the Fall Guy for British AI - IEEE Spectrum

By Allison Marsh, professor at the University of South Carolina, and currently a Fellow at the Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering, and Technology.

Freddy II was completed in 1973 as one of a series of research robots developed by Donald Michie and his team at the University of Edinburgh during the 1960s and ’70s. The robots became the focus of an intense debate over the future of AI in the United Kingdom. Michie eventually lost, his funding was gutted, and the ensuing AI winter set back U.K. research in the field for a decade.

READ MORE AT IEEE SPECTRUM

Robotics News

2025 Is the Year of the Humanoid Robot Factory Worker - Wired

Hugging Face releases a 3D-printed robotic arm starting at $100 - TechCrunch

AV Industry players team up - and more autonomous news from April - TechBrew

Toyota, Waymo explore collaboration to speed up self-driving tech - Reuters

Waymo says it will add 2,000 more robtaxis in 2026 - The Verge

Scaling our fleet through U.S. manufacturing - Waymo Waypoint

Uber strikes deal with May Mobility to deploy ‘thousands’ of robotaxis - The Verge

With a load of pastries, Aurora hits driverless truck milestone in Texas - Axios

Could autonomous vehicle insurance threaten Berkshire Hathaway’s most profitable segment? - The Motley Fool

‘Robotability score’ ranks NYC streets for future robot deployment - TechXplore

Driverless trucks may be coming to California roads. Here’s how to weigh in - LAIST

How you can weigh in
The 45-day public comment period for these regulations began on April 25, 2025 and runs through June 9, 2025.
Written comments may be submitted to LADRegulations@dmv.ca.gov during the 45-day period. After the comment period, the DMV will host a public hearing to gather additional public input.
Location: California Public Utility Commission’s Auditorium
Address: 505 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco
Date: June 10
Time: 9 a.m.
Proposed regulations are available on the DMV's website.

Tariffs stall US humanoid robots push as China dominates rare earth supplies - Interesting Engineering

Why some robot startups could gain from tariffs - The Information

UPS in talks with startup Figure AI to deploy humanoid robots - Bloomberg

Mass. robotics facility developing Walmart tech to lay off 400 workers - MassLive

Howard Lutnick says the ‘great jobs of the future’ will be fixing robots in factories - Business Insider

Why robots are not the answer to US manufacturing reshoring hopes - Financial Times

Recycling gets smarter: AI robots from Amazon-backed startup are sorting waste in Seattle - GeekWire

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang sees future where robots will manage and manufacture everything in AI factories - MSN

China’s robot craze has found its purpose - Bloomberg Opinion

The US imported $603mn in industrial robots in 2024, three times its exports

“Tariffs are punitive,” said Melonee Wise, chief product officer at humanoid robot maker Agility Robotics. “I don’t think that we’ll start seeing any kind of shift [to automation] without large or definitive incentivisation.”

The US government has invested about $6bn in robotics R&D between 2018 and 2022, according to Public Spend Forum, a government research platform. However, it lacks a national robotics strategy and federal scientific research budgets are being slashed by the Trump administration.