The Week in Robotics
This week in robotics — sourced, verified, and put in context against our index of 4,299 robots.
New Iron
TECH
Via ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and VideosAdventHealth doctor performs robotic telesurgery across 35 miles between hospitals
Dr. Vipul Patel of AdventHealth's Global Robotics Institute performed a robotic telesurgery on a 66-year-old man with prostate cancer, controlling surgical instruments from a hospital 35 miles away from where the patient was located.
The procedure, done as part of an FDA-authorized clinical research study, is described as the first of its kind performed between two hospitals in the United States, with a qualified surgeon also present in the room with the patient.
The same study previously included nearly a dozen telesurgery procedures performed between hospitals in Orlando and Luanda, Angola, located more than 7,000 miles apart.
Boots on the Ground
DEPLOYMENT
Via The Robot ReportEmbotech and BMW hit 1M automated in-plant vehicle movements
Embotech and BMW announced they have moved 1 million vehicles using Embotech's automated driving technology across four sites in the U.K. and Germany.
The Automated Driving In-Plant system now handles about 3,500 vehicle movements a day with more than 99.5% availability, and BMW plans to roll the technology out worldwide, including next year at its Spartanburg, South Carolina plant.
Since an initial pilot in 2022, deployments have expanded to four BMW sites: Dingolfing, Leipzig, and Regensburg in Germany, and MINI Plant Oxford in the U.K.
Via TechCrunchKodiak to supply 75 driverless trucks to DTL Transport starting 2028
Kodiak AI has signed its first binding commercial deal to supply driverless trucks for public highways, agreeing to deliver 75 self-driving trucks to California freight company DTL Transport starting in 2028.
DTL plans to run the trucks on multiple interstate routes, including Dallas to El Paso and Interstate 20 between Dallas and Atlanta, where Kodiak has already tested. The deal follows a pilot last month in which Kodiak hauled perishable goods for DTL about 225 miles along Interstate 5 and State Route 99 with a human safety operator aboard.
Kodiak did not disclose the value of the DTL contract, but its 2025 investor presentation forecasts $150,000 to $190,000 in annual recurring revenue per truck, suggesting the deal could generate at least about $11.2 million in annual recurring revenue once all 75 trucks are delivered.
Via DC VelocityGXO expands Agility Digit humanoid robot deployment to two more US sites
Contract logistics provider GXO will deploy Agility Robotics' Digit humanoid robots at distribution centers in Statesville, North Carolina and Lebanon, Tennessee, expanding a 2024 partnership that began at a Georgia facility handling inventory for Spanx.
At the original Flowery Branch, Georgia site, Digit has moved more than 100,000 totes under a Robots-as-a-Service agreement, working alongside existing automation to place totes onto conveyors.
The new deployments are expected to begin in early 2027 using Digit 4, migrating to the upcoming Digit 5 model, and GXO has also trialed humanoid robots from Apptronik and Reflex in separate pilots.
Follow the Money
INVESTMENTVia SiliconANGLEBedrock Robotics raises $600M Series C, valued near $1B
Bedrock Robotics has closed a $600 million Series C round led by Alphabet's CapitalG fund and Emergence Capital, with participation from Nvidia, Bessemer and more than a half-dozen other investors.
The company says it is now valued at nearly $1 billion. The funding comes weeks after Bedrock began paid autonomous excavator work on commercial construction sites.
Bedrock sells an autonomy module, the Bedrock Operator, that lets excavators navigate sites and perform earthmoving tasks with minimal human input using an onboard computing appliance, camera and lidar sensor array, and an inertial measurement unit.
On the Calendar
AHEADRobotics shows, conferences and competitions opening in the next eight weeks. Dates confirmed against each organiser’s own page.
- Nov 3–6CeMAT ASIA 2026
- Nov 9–12CoRL 2026 — Conference on Robot Learning
- Nov 24–26SPS 2026 — Smart Production Solutions
- Dec 6–9IEEE-RAS Humanoids 2026
The Number
DATAOctober so far: $3.06B across 46 rounds recorded. The month is still running, so it is not on the chart.
Half the month’s rounds were under $15M; its three largest took 50% of the capital. Biggest: Cornerstone Robotics at $700M.
Full capital index →This is funding we have recorded, not all robotics funding — we find more rounds partly because we read more news than we used to. Amounts are the disclosed round size, not a valuation. Months run to the last complete one.
146 companies build the 279 humanoids we track. 279 active humanoid models from 146 makers. Counted from the live index on the day this issue was assembled.