In Episode 216 of The Robot Report Podcast, hosts Steve Crowe and Mike Oitzman recap the major robotics news of the week.
Ben Wolff, CEO of Palladyne AI. Credit: Palladyne AI
In this episode, we sit down with Ben Wolff, CEO of Palladyne AI, to discuss the company’s innovative strides in the AI and robotics industry.
We dive into their focus on simplifying robot programming through an enhanced user interface, the development of autonomous swarming technology for drones, and their commitment to creating hardware-agnostic AI solutions.
Wolff shares insights into the advantages of edge computing and emphasizes a customer-centric approach to product development, ensuring that their offerings are indispensable to users.
Show timeline
- 08:08 – News of the week
- 36:15 – Conversation with Tanmay Agarwal, CEO of Parallax Worlds
- 42:25 – Conversation with Ben Wolff, CEO of Palladyne AI
News of the week
ABB Group to sell ABB Robotics to SoftBank for $5.375B
ABB Group is divesting its ABB Robotics & Discrete Automation division to SoftBank Group Corp. for $5.375 billion. The Zurich-based company had announced plans to spin off the unit during an earnings call in April. At the time, it noted that orders and revenues had fallen sharply from 2023 to early 2025.
SoftBank’s other robotics investments:
- In 2012, SoftBank acquired Aldebaran Robotics for $100 million, rebranded it as SoftBank Robotics in 2016, and sold it as SoftBank Robotics Europe to United Robotics Group in 2022. In June 2025, Aldebaran went into receivership.
- In 2018, SoftBank invested $375 million in Zume Pizza, which shut down two years later.
- In 2019, it gave Nuro.ai $940 million, and the driverless delivery vehicle maker reached a $6 billion valuation in August 2025.
- SoftBank acquired Boston Dynamics from Alphabet in 2017 and sold it to Hyundai Motor Group for $880 million in 2021.
- In addition, SoftBank took a 40% stake in warehouse automation provider AutoStore for $2.2 billion in 2021.
- In 2023, SoftBank merged with Berkshire Grey in a cash deal worth about $375 million.
Boston Dynamics shows latest humanoid hand design
A video from Boston Dynamics contains a deep dive into its hand design and why the company chose only three fingers. The video also shows its quick-change ability and the robustness of the design.
Boston Dynamics noted that it didn’t just try to replicate a human hand, but instead created something that can survive in industrial applications, yet be manufactured and repaired affordably.
Figure AI designs Figure 03 humanoid for AI, home use, and scaling
Figure AI released its latest version 3 humanoid robot. It’s yet another iteration of the platform. The robot looks as if Apple designed a humanoid.
This version is covered in cloth and padding, much like the 1X Neo robot. Adcock claimed in a Time article that the new Figure 03 redesign is intended “not to hurt you” and to be “pushable” and “outrunnable.”
“The company will spend much of the new $1 billion on its balance sheet hiring humans to collect first-person video data,” Adcock told Time.
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Catch the latest on humanoid and surgical robotic development at RoboBusiness 2025. Join Deepu Talla, vice president of robotics and edge AI at NVIDIA, for a keynote titled “Physical AI for the New Era of Robotics.”
And don’t miss the 2025 RoboBusiness Pitchfire competition, on the expo floor theater at 1:45 pm on Thursday, October 16.
