The economics of open source vs closed source in AI
Is Hugging Face the Levi Strauss of the AI Gold Rush?
The FarmRobo iMog multipurpose electric robot for small holder farms wins the Ag Robot of the Year 2025 award. The iMog is capable of performing a wide array of agricultural tasks and is compatible with various implements. (via World FIRA and Future Farming)
Which is better - open or closed source
Clearly there’s a lot of ‘it depends’ here. And we can all have personal preferences, however I’m rethinking my position on open source and closed source. A lot of robotics companies build on open source foundations but close their final products.
Leading me to the conclusion that open source is great for the ecosystem but not so great for individual companies due to ongoing competition and lack of moats, potentially also issues around liability and reliability or at least certification.
However second and third order effects, particularly if your company has achieved some size can make open source far more attractive. Meta cites the economies of scale, process power (the seven powers) and creating a standardized supply chain for the reasons behind their open source support. Basically, the ecosystem creates a competitive good for a large company. And presumably there is trickle down effects for smaller companies, but don’t end up with two monoliths? Apple vs Android, Llama vs OpenAI and Anthropic.
What is the marketplace impact of not just Deep Seek, but more smaller cheaper models? And is Hugging Face ultimately the winner, providing the picks and shovels for the AI gold rush? Love to hear your thoughts on this.
In case you missed it, Forbes Finance Council mentions a couple of new robotics unicorns from Q4 2024:
Nimble Robotics: This robotics company is revolutionizing order fulfillment with AI-powered robots capable of picking and packing items with unmatched efficiency. After raising $106 million, the company reached a valuation of $1 billion, positioning itself as a leader in logistics automation.
Physical Intelligence: With a groundbreaking focus on robotics brains, this startup raised $400 million, pushing its valuation to $2 billion. Its technology enables machines to adapt to complex real-world environments, opening new possibilities in automation and industrial applications.
Meanwhile Robotics Roundup from FPrime Capital lists January’s robotics fundings - and thanks for recommending Robots&Startups to your readers!
Hey roboticists!
Urban Machines are selling their old picker cell at auction, and are willing to take a bargain basement offer on it so that you can harvest it for parts. It has like 26 clearpath servos in there each worth about $500. Probably 15-20k worth of parts total. So lots of valuable components for someone willing to take it apart. Here's a link: https://svdisposition.hibid.com/lot/225906731/nail-picking-machine
California Competes Tax Credit – The California Competes Tax Credit (CCTC) is an income tax credit available to businesses that want to locate in California or stay and grow in California. Businesses of any industry, size, or location compete for tax credits will have their submittals analyzed based on fourteen different factors of evaluation, including number of full-time jobs being created, amount of investment, and strategic importance to the state or region. The next application period for businesses to apply for the CCTC will open on Monday, February 24, 2025. For more information, visit the California Competes Tax Credit website.
Robotics News
NASA’s Astrobee gets tentacle fingers - Interesting Engineering
A framework for soft mechanism driven robots - Nature
Perseverance Mars rover finds ‘one-of-a-kind treasure’ on Red Planet’s Silver Mountain - Space.com
SF’s robot manicurists are no more - SF Standard
GM lays off half of Cruise after killing robotaxi business - SF Standard
Uber CEO says the company is ‘well-positioned’ on autonomous vehicles - but gains are still a long way off - Fortune
Amazon’s robots could help it save $10 billion a year by 2030, Morgan Stanley analysts say - Business Insider
Honeywell, one of the few reamining US industrial conglomerates, will split into three companies - AP
NASA’s powerful moon mining robot could dig 10,000 kg of soil in a single lunar day - Interesting Engineering
After a wrenching decision by NASA, private lunar lander finds a new customer - ArsTechnica
Can Delivery Robots Solve Last-Mile Logistics Issues? - PYMNTS
Monarch’s dairy tractor rolls out autonomous feed pushing - Dairy Herd Management
Autonomous robot takes computers apart to tackle growing e-waste problem - Institution of Mechanical Engineers
When Self-Driving Actually Works: Inside Honda’s Fleet of Autonomous Factory Robots - The Drive
BYD Shares Rise Sharply Amid Mass-Market Autonomous-Driving Tech Hopes - WSJ
Talking, teaching, and even recognizing dogs: Meet Redwood Shores’ lifelike robots - RWC Pulse
Why am I so sad about seeing a robot get beat up? - The Guardian
Houston humanoid robotics startup secures millions in pre-seed funding - Innovation Map
SAEKI, ETH Zurich Startup Raises $6.7M to Improve Large-Scale 3D Printing - StartupHub.ai
The city of Hangzhou is emerging as the heart of China’s AI and robotics - KR Maeil
MIT Discovers AI Training Paradox That Could Boost Robot Intelligence - PYMNTS
Physical Intelligence open-sources Pi0 robotics foundation model - The Robot Report
Google opens Gemini 2.0, its most powerful AI model, to everyone - CNBC
Machine-learning pioneer Yann LeCun on why “a new revolution in AI” is coming - The Economist
Hugging Face brings ‘Pi-Zero’ to LeRobot, making AI-powered robots easier to build and deploy - VentureBeat
Figure AI: Robot startup terminates partnership with OpenAI, relies on its own LLMs - Trending Topics
OpenAI eyes the wearables business: Robots, headsets, watches and a whole lot more - ZDNet
Meta is studying how humans and robots can collaborate on housework - TechCrunch
This Pixar-style dancing lamp hints at Apple’s future home robot - The Verge
ELEGNT: Expressive and Functional Movement Design for Non-Anthropomorphic Robot - Apple Machine Learning Research
Robot Talk Episode 108 - Giving robots the sense of touch, with Anurdha Ranasinghe - Robot Talk Podcast on Robohub
Send me your community news to share!
Robotics Events
We had more than 150 people show up for Bots&Beer is Back Baby … including special guests Spot and Boston Dynamics, Franka Emika and HullBot. You’ll be able to see Enchanted Tools at Mountain View from Feb 11th too.
Here are some of the shout outs from our Open Mic - people hiring, funding, providing services or looking for same. Big thanks to our hosts at Circuit Launch and Silicon Valley Robotics and our food and drink sponsors at Smait.ai and Jiga.io and Odyssey Ventures
Smait or Smart Machine Artificial Intelligence Technology develops service robots with cutting-edge AI technology to enhance operational efficiency and customer experience.
Jiga.io helps you source high-quality, cost-competitive custom parts faster by partnering directly with vetted manufacturers.
Odyssey Ventures provides you with scale-up capital and support for the most ambitious founders in Climate, BioTech, and AI Infrastructure.
Circuit Launch is a community of startup and established electronic hardware companies, where we provide our members with office, lab, and micromanufacturing workspaces. Want a tour of Mountain View or Oakland?
Silicon Valley Robotics supports innovation and commercialization of robotics technologies, providing an accelerator for the hard tech ecosystem. Connect with investors, co founders and industry partners.
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Join the organizing team at Silicon Valley Robotics? bots&beer@svrobo.org
Pitching the Future at AWS - Feb 11th (four Swiss robotics startups)
SVR Investor Summit - Feb 12th - FULL
InOrbit Robot Space Anniversary - Feb 13th
Women in Robotics UNHappy Hour - Feb 19th
HRI 2025 Melbourne Australia March 4 - March 6
ProMat 2025 Chicago IL Mar 17 - Mar 20
ICRA 2025 Atlanta Georgia 17 May - 23 May 2025
So comprehensive!
Thanks Andra