Top 10 robotics stories of August 2026. In August 2026, large funding rounds, humanoid robot developments, and stories about the latest AI models for robotics got its readers' attention. 10. XPeng humanoid robot unit Dogotix picks up $900M in August 2026. Like other global automakers, XPeng Motors is branching into humanoid robots. The electric vehicle manufacturer said that its Dogotix robotics unit has raised more than $900 million, bringing its pre-money valuation to $5 billion and post-transaction valuation to more than $6.3 billion. Read more. 9. Gravis Robotics raises $200M for autonomous construction. The construction industry has been slow to automate, but demand is growing for infrastructure repairs, AI data center buildouts, and U.S. reshoring and defense. SoftBank has invested in Gravis Robotics' Series A round, which it claimed is the largest in construction robotics history. Read more. 8. Reimagine Robotics emerges from stealth in August 2026 with robots that 'learn on the job' AI is enabling robots to learn on the job, according to Reimagine Robotics. The startup is developing technology that it claimed anyone can train and use. Its CEO founded Google DeepMind's Applied Robotics team in London and led it for seven years. Read more. 7. Jetson Orin Nano 2 doubles inference performance for robotics on the edge, says NVIDIA. Robotics developers need compact, energy-efficient computers built for edge AI, asserted NVIDIA. The company introduced a new entry-level computer for edge AI that it said enables developers worldwide to build systems for physical AI applications. Read more. 6. What does Unitree Robotics' IPO mean for the humanoid industry? In August 2026, Unitree Robotics made its debut on Shanghai's STAR Market, closing its first day 460% higher. The company raised 6.1 billion yuan, around $905 million U.S., with its initial public offering. Unitree claimed that it is the first major legged robotics company to go pubic. Read more. 5. Humanoids won't scale on factory floors until costs drop. While the tech industry thinks AI is the main barrier for robots joining the workforce, the real issue has more to do with robotic unit economics, says Plus One Robotics' CTO. AI has come a long way, and the hardware has significantly improved. But for most manufacturers, the cost of automating using humanoids just isn't feasible. Read more. 4. HII signs up to $900M agreement with Path Robotics, GrayMatter Robotics in August 2026. Huntington Ingalls Industries, or HII, has signed production agreements with two robotics providers. HII intends to award shipbuilding work to welding technology provider Path and robotic sanding provider GrayMatter across seven years. Read more. 3. Zoox unveils production-ready robotaxi for U.S. expansion. Armed with feedback from more than half a million riders, autonomous vehicle pioneer Zoox has unveiled the final production design of its purpose-built robotaxi. The company said its latest vehicle will ready its custom, driverless fleet for mass production and immediate commercial expansion. Read more. 2. The technology that could bring robot mowers to one in two American lawns. For years, robotic lawn mowers have been perceived as a niche technology, limited by complex installations, wired systems, and performance that was not always suitable for larger and more demanding lawns. Today, that phase is over. Read more. 1. Google DeepMind says Gemini Robotics 2 enables full body control. Google DeepMind in August 2026 unveiled Gemini Robotics 2, the latest version of its vision-language-action, or VLA, model. The updated VLA includes intelligent whole-body control, advanced dexterity, and multi-robot collaboration, DeepMind said. Read more.

Gravis Robotics raises $200 million and aims to make construction machinery autonomous. Up to 30 percent increase in productivity on construction sites: Gravis Robotics is developing a cross-manufacturer AI platform for autonomous construction machinery and has secured $200 million in funding for the project. News by Marc Nemitz · Zürich, 18. August 2026 Gravis Robotics, a DeepTech startup spun out of ETH Zurich, has closed an exceptionally large Series A round. SoftBank is investing 200 million U.S. dollars in the company, which was founded in 2022. According to Gravis, this is the largest Series A round to date in the field of construction robotics. The capital is primarily intended to fund the international scaling of the technology. Gravis develops AI systems that enable existing heavy construction machinery to be operated automatically or fully autonomously. Physical AI hits the construction site. While much of the current AI boom focuses on software, language models, and digital agents, Gravis is targeting the physical world. The company aims to transform traditional construction machinery into intelligent and increasingly autonomous machines using software and additional hardware. To this end, Gravis has developed the Gravis Rack, a control system that can be integrated into machines from various manufacturers. According to the company, the technology has already been deployed on machines from Caterpillar, Case, Develon, John Deere, JCB, Hitachi, Sumitomo, Yanmar, and Volvo. It is precisely this manufacturer-independence that could be decisive for the market. Construction companies often have fleets of various brands that have grown over the years. Instead of having to purchase entirely new machines, Gravis is therefore pursuing a retrofit approach. An operating system for heavy construction machinery. Technologically, the task is significantly more complex than traditional automation in controlled environments. An autonomous vehicle attempts to avoid obstacles. An excavator, on the other hand, must actively alter its surroundings. Soil conditions, rocks, hydraulic resistance, and the characteristics of the respective machine are constantly changing during operation. Gravis therefore trains its models using, among other things, extensive simulations. The AI is designed to learn to account for different ground conditions and machine characteristics and then apply this knowledge to real construction sites. According to the company, the technology can thereby achieve productivity gains of up to 30 percent compared to manual operation. From Copilot to autonomous excavator. Gravis does not rely exclusively on full autonomy. With Gravis Copilot, for example, machine operators receive 3D assistance and warnings about potential hazards while continuing to operate the machine themselves. In fully autonomous applications, however, employees can monitor multiple machines from a safe distance. At the same time, the equipped vehicles become mobile sensor platforms that collect data on the construction site, the terrain, and potential hazards while they work. As a result, construction machinery is evolving from a purely mechanical tool into a software-controlled component of a digitized construction site. Skilled labor shortage meets infrastructure boom. The timing could hardly be more opportune for Gravis. Globally, the demand for new infrastructure is on the rise. Power grids must be expanded, data centers built to support the AI boom, housing constructed, and existing transportation routes modernized. At the same time, the construction industry in many places is suffering from a significant shortage of skilled workers. It is precisely this combination that is making construction robotics an increasingly attractive market for investors: When additional labor is not sufficiently available, the productivity of existing workers and machines must increase. Gravis therefore positions autonomous construction machines not primarily as a replacement for people, but as a way to deploy existing skilled workers more productively through automation. $200 million for international expansion. According to Gravis, the technology is already being used in collaboration with major infrastructure companies on four continents. With the $200 million from SoftBank, the goal is now to build a globally scalable business. The company plans to hire additional engineers and developers and deploy its systems at significantly more construction sites. Gravis is receiving additional momentum in the United Kingdom. The company was selected there for a CAM Pathfinder project supported by $8 million. In collaboration with Flannery Plant Hire, excavator fleets are to be retrofitted with the Gravis Rack. This would allow construction companies to use autonomous machines in the future without having to purchase entirely new fleets. When AI does more than just write text - It moves earth. At the same time, this funding highlights where the current AI investment cycle might be headed. Following generative AI and AI agents, Physical AI is increasingly taking center stage. The goal here is to bring artificial intelligence out of the digital environment and enable machines to act autonomously in the real world. Industry, logistics, agriculture, and the construction sector offer enormous markets for this. The construction industry appears particularly interesting in this regard: It is capital-intensive, suffers from a shortage of skilled workers, and - despite large fleets of machinery - still relies surprisingly heavily on manual labor in many areas. If Gravis actually succeeds in equipping existing machines from various manufacturers with a common autonomous platform, the result could be far more than just another manufacturer of construction site robots. Ultimately, Gravis aims to build the operating system for autonomous heavy construction machinery. With $200 million in capital, the company now has the financial resources to test this very ambition on an international scale.