August marks a year since Amazon announced plans to acquire iRobot for $1.7 billion, a deal that some analysts believe could give the retail giant a leadership position in consumer robots, just as Kiva boosted its industrial ambitions a year ago .
I’m not sure anyone thought a deal of this magnitude would easily bypass regulators — especially since Amazon has come under so much scrutiny over privacy concerns and non-competitive behavior over the past decade. At the same time, I don’t think too many of us thought we were going to be heading into 2024 very quickly with this big, open question mark.
The deal has been approved by multiple government agencies, but every step of the process has been lengthy. If you’re a regular reader of Actuator, you probably already know how I feel about external review of business practices (I’m generally in favor of it), but I’m now expecting some clarity.
Sure, Amazon would be nice, but I can’t imagine this waiting game won’t be easy for iRobot, which went through two rounds of layoffs in mid-2022 and early 2023. Just before the one-year anniversary announcement, iRobot confirmed that Amazon would reduce the acquisition price by 15% while raising $200 million in debt to “fund its ongoing operations” – debt that Amazon would assume if the deal does close.
A month ago, EU antitrust regulators expressed the following concerns: “Amazon may have the ability and motivation to block iRobot’s competitors through a variety of blocking strategies designed to prevent competitors from selling RVC on Amazon’s online marketplace. and/or reduce their access to iRobot. It.”
Amazon countered that its iRobot already faced “intense competition,” adding that its vast resources would lower prices and “accelerate innovation.”
The European Commission has set itself Valentine’s Day 2024 as a deadline for a final decision.
Humanoid robots were big news last year for a number of reasons. The first—and most obvious—is the switch they flip in our collective lizard brain. It sits somewhere in uncanny valley territory, fueled by decades of science fiction. As a species, we’ve gone through generations of work evolution, replacement and replacement of technologies, but rarely – if ever – have those hands been so deliberately similar to ours.
No matter how you feel about how this whole thing is going to play out, you have to be hard-hearted and unable to sympathize with workers’ concerns that techies are building real alternatives. There are very few abstractions to which we are accustomed. Imagine that the Model T was a big metal horse on wheels, maybe you could get a little closer.
The second important reason is the number of companies launching humanoid systems this year: Figure, Apptronik, 1X and Tesla first. Again, try to put yourself in the shoes of someone who doesn’t pay attention to this stuff on a daily basis, and you can start to appreciate some of the feelings you get when your newsfeed is suddenly flooded with these stories.
Like the rise of generative artificial intelligence, suddenly being able to generate an image, story, or song from a short prompt in a text field could be a huge shock to the system if you haven’t been paying attention to the industry’s progress.
Of course, we’ll be discussing the efficacy of human form factors for years to come, but we’ve at least begun to conduct real-world trials. Whether it succeeds or fails, Amazon’s digital pilot is bound to have a profound impact on how we think about the future of the category.
Tired of hearing about generative AI and LL.M.? Guys, I have some very bad news for you. The hype surrounding the technology’s role in robotics is only growing. Top research institutions are exploring the connection between GenAI and robotics, and many companies are beginning to put these concepts into practice.
Generative artificial intelligence will revolutionize the way robots think, learn and listen. It will also have a major impact on how robots are designed, as CSAIL’s Daniela Rus told me recently. But don’t be angry, be excited. By 2023, the conversation around generative artificial intelligence will be more important than any other aspect of robotics, and it feels like we’re on the cusp of something big.
In 2021, as the global pandemic led to a surge in funding for robotics, many employers began to take a serious, long-term look at automation. 2022, on the other hand, is the second-worst year in the category over the past five years. Only 2020 was worse, with all the turmoil caused by COVID-19 in its early stages.
New data from Crunchbase emerged early last month suggesting another decline in 2023. Of course, the initial interest in automation is bound to wane, and as the economy struggles, the venture capital market is extremely cautious, which will only accelerate this trend.
Investments stood at $2.7 billion as of early November, down from $5 billion for all of 2022 and $9.1 billion for 2021. As the year comes to a close, I haven’t seen the full statistics yet, but things are looking closer to $3.4 billion in 2020.
Miscellaneous.
Image Source: Brian Hitt
Since I promised you a short article this week and we’ve already written over 1000 words, I’m going to wrap it up using the CliffsNotes version. As we head into 2024, here are some of the things I’m currently focusing on:
- Low-code and no-code robotics. Everyone seems to agree that the learning curve is a big barrier to wider adoption. We will see a proliferation of software platforms designed to help us achieve this goal.
- Truck loading and unloading. These containers get extremely hot and cold. Loading and unloading is extremely physically demanding. Systems that can automate this aspect of warehouses are expected to see significant development in 2024.
- Continuing developments in agricultural technology, construction and healthcare systems.
- Killer robot legislation.Following last week’s conversation with Rep. Lindsay Sabadoza, concerns over domestic use of weaponized robots could lead to similar bills being introduced across the U.S.
- More versatile than versatile. This may just be wishful thinking on my part, but I’d like to see the conversation around “universal” systems calm down a bit as we discuss the more practical world of multipurpose robots.
- Nearshoring. More of wishful thinking to me, but the supply chain crisis of the past few years has caused many companies to rethink where their products are manufactured and assembled. To realize this trend, automation must be at the core.
That’s it for this week. Next week, we can really get serious about talking about CES. Now, I wish you all a happy and healthy New Year. thanks for reading.
