Humans are so screwed. Here's the factory of the future, from Machina Labs, which just raised $124 million to build a 200,000-square-foot production facility. Got this pic from their press kit. Not a meatbag in sight.

ATT & SLMs: 10% of the cost, all of the accuracy? Large language models have dominated the AI conversation, but are small language models (SLMs) actually the future? In this episode of TechFirst, host John Koetsier sits down with Andy Markus, SVP & Chief Data and AI Officer at AT&T, to unpack how…

"PMs and designers began writing code; researchers took on engineering tasks; and individuals across the organization attempted work they would have outsourced, deferred, or avoided entirely in the past." You mean they delved into areas they were incompetent in and had no business doing so?

There's a meta-point here, which is key: Commercial AI tools are built for bosses. It's very obvious, and very simple. This manifests in every part of their design and implementation and use, and it's no wonder they cause burnout.

XR post-hype: what’s next? What happens when AI moves off the screen and into your field of view? Recorded live at Web Summit Qatar, this TechFirst episode dives deep into the real future of XR ... beyond the hype cycles of VR headsets and toward smart glasses, physical AI, and contextual…

I'm a SpaceX apologist and extremely bullish about Starship, but I simply do not believe that orbital data centres as described by Musk here are a plausible thing. www.spacex.com/updates#xai-...

If I had a dollar for every time my vibe-coding apps super-confidently says "oh, I see the problem now" only to still completely fail at fixing it for the 10th time ... I wouldn't be vibe-coding anything b/c I 'd be a multi multi multi millionaire

Robots won’t do chores, with OpenMind CEO Jan Liphardt Humanoid robots are coming into our homes, but they probably won’t be doing your laundry anytime soon. In this episode of TechFirst, host John Koetsier sits down with Jan Liphardt, founder & CEO of OpenMind and Stanford bioengineering…

so tired of companies doing this 1) record profits 2) cut people off like they mean nothing it's rampant now, and here's ASML doing the same ting. Amazon, I'm looking at you too!

"The more the Soviets doggedly insisted that small states such as Finland were simply unable to prevent third parties from using their territory for aggression against another state, the more the Finns began to see the Soviet Union as that third party." 🤔🤔🤔🤔

wild that I have to tell and AI agent to "do a good job" or else it will give me a shittier result art imitating life life imitating art tech imitating us

Journalists have to eat, so the frame for this article plays up "slicing spines" of books &c. But imo this is actually (like Google Books) an inspiring story of people getting their acts together to organize and transform knowledge. I only wish universities could coordinate as effectively.

AI in entertainment: what's the impact? I recently chatted with Larry Namer, who founded E! Entertainment Television. In a word: fragmentation. Whether that's awesome or awful depends significantly on where you sit. More on my Substack: techfirst.substack.com

Generative Hollywood: E! founder Larry Namer on AI AI is hitting entertainment like a sledgehammer ... from algorithmic gatekeepers and AI-written scripts to digital actors and entire movies generated from a prompt. In this episode of TechFirst, host John Koetsier sits down with Larry Namer,…

Robot reasoning: why data is not enough Robots aren’t just software. They’re AI in the physical world. And that changes everything. In this episode of TechFirst, host John Koetsier sits down with Ali Farhadi, CEO of the Allen Institute for AI, to unpack one of the biggest debates in robotics…

"don't make the robot white" wow DreamStudio

"Agents will do everything" Meanwhile, ChatGPT in agent mode in the Atlas browser when I ask it to add some interlinking on my personal website ... acting as an "EXPERT" SEO specialist ... (Adding the obligatory yeah, I know they'll get better and better.)

I'm confused, YouTube. Which is it? Or, is it that our AI slop is ok, but their AI slop is not? Hmmm ...

Apple Is The Fastest-Growing Major Smartphone Maker Globally Just posted to my Forbes column with a rare headline you don’t often see about a company Apple’s size: it’s still growing faster than everyone else. In this piece, I dig into new Counterpoint data showing Apple was the fastest-growing…

‘Hey Siri’ Becomes ‘Hey Google’ As Apple And Gemini Get Hitched Just posted to my Forbes column about a genuinely surprising AI power move that could finally change how Siri works — and who it works with. In this piece, I unpack Apple and Google’s newly announced multiyear collaboration that puts…

Top 10 Humanoid Robot Companies By Shipments Revealed ust posted to my Forbes column with a reality check on humanoid robots — where they actually are today, and who’s really shipping them at scale. In this piece, I dig into new Omdia data showing that only about 13,000 humanoid robots shipped…

This Humanoid Robot Charges Through Its Feet Wirelessly Just posted to my Forbes column about a deceptively simple breakthrough that could make humanoid robots far more practical — especially in the home. In this piece, I look at how Figure AI plans to solve one of humanoid robotics’ biggest…

Amazon Agentic Hypocrisy? Agents For Me But Not For Thee Just posted to my Forbes column about a growing contradiction at the heart of AI-powered commerce — and it’s one that Amazon now finds itself squarely in the middle of. In this piece, I dig into Amazon’s Buy For Me beta, an AI shopping agent…

$480 million in seed funding for a 3-month old company (!!) SEED FUNDING $480 million is not a seed round I repeat $480 million is not a seed round I look forward to this spectacularly blowing up and burning money like the sun fuses hydrogen.

Check out this $10,000 social humanoid robot for kids Can we really build a $10,000 humanoid robot on open-source AI? In this episode of TechFirst, John Koetsier talks with Chris Kudla, CEO of Mind Children, about a radically different approach to humanoid robots. Instead of six-figure industrial…

LOL Malfunction at the junction on Nvidia H200s into China Woops!

AI is now every UI: generative user interfaces explained Is AI really the new UI, or is that just another tech buzzphrase? Or ... is AI actually EVERY user interface now? In this episode of TechFirst, host John Koetsier sits down with Mark Vange, CEO & founder of Automate.ly and former CTO at…

Create One Awesome Thing Today

🌟 As seen in Forbes: "Top 10 Fastest-Growing Technologies Revealed: Study Of 323,272 Patents" - based on the latest from IFI CLAIMS Patent Services. IFI has just released its U.S. Top 50 for 2025 & Top 10 Fastest Growing Technologies. 🔗 Story by John Koetsier here: https://ow.ly/FnFa50XWF7v

SHOCK CELL PHONE VIDEO: Renee Good's final words to her murderer: “That’s fine dude, I’m not mad at you.” ICE agent Jonathan Ross after shooting and killing her seconds later: “Fuckin’ bitch.” Via Alpha News

Phrase of the moment: “monetization of abuse” www.wired.com/story/x-didn...

Top 10 humanoid robot companies by shipments 1. Agibot: 5,168 2. Unitree: 4,200 3. UBTech: 1,000 4. Leju Robotics: 500 5. Engine AI: 400 All the details in my story: www.forbes.com/sites/johnko...

The agentic web: awesome or awful? The web is turning agentic. And an agentic web changes everything from shopping to search to SEO. In this episode of TechFirst, John Koetsier sits down with Dave Anderson (VP at ContentSquare + host of the “Tech Seeking Human” podcast) to unpack what happens when…

The Robot Olympics Will Have Zero Sports. Here’s Why Just posted to my Forbes column about why the future of robot competitions shouldn’t look anything like the human Olympics. We already have robot marathons, boxing matches, and humanoid games that test athleticism. But former Google roboticist…

China Just Reinvented Isaac Asimov’s 3 Laws Of Robotics Just posted to my Forbes column about how China is rethinking the laws of robotics—and what that says about the future of AI and humanoid robots globally. The 2004 movie I, Robot popularized Isaac Asimov’s three elegant laws of robotics:…

AI-Proof Your Career In 2026: Make AI Your Ally, Not Your Enemy Just posted to my Forbes column about why surviving the current wave of tech layoffs may have less to do with fighting AI—and more to do with partnering with it. 2025 has been a rough year for tech workers, with layoffs sweeping…

AI Agents As Engineers: Onshoring Production Back To Europe, North America Just posted to my Forbes column about a very different vision for AI agents—one that goes far beyond emails and meeting notes and straight onto the factory floor. In the piece, I talk with Federico Martelli, CEO of Swiss…

AI vs Teens: AI Could Wipe Out 27% Of Teen Jobs By 2030 Just posted to my Forbes column about a new and sobering analysis on how AI could reshape teen employment in the U.S. ... and why teens may be hit harder than adults. The research comes from Karissa Tang, a California high school senior who…

Scientists Give Robots Skin With Pain Sensations And Human-Like Reflexes Just posted to my Forbes column about a breakthrough that could fundamentally change how robots interact with people—and how they protect themselves. Researchers at City University of Hong Kong have developed a neuromorphic…

Agibot Launches 3 Humanoid Robots And Quadruped, Says Has Shipped 5,000 Already Just posted to my Forbes column about what might be one of the most consequential humanoid robot launches we’ve seen so far. At CES in Las Vegas, Agibot didn’t just tease concepts—it rolled out a full commercial lineup…

Atlas Humanoid Robots Production ‘Fully Committed’ For 2026, Factory Will Build 30,000 Per Year Just posted to my Forbes column about Boston Dynamics’ newest Atlas humanoid ... and why one quote from its CEO really stood out to me. This week at CES in Las Vegas, Boston Dynamics unveiled its latest…

LG’s ‘Zero Labor Home’ Might Be Amazing … If You Don’t Have Stairs Just posted to my Forbes column about LG’s bold (and very ambitious) vision for a truly “zero labor home.” In the piece, I dig into LG Electronics’ latest home robot concept, CLOiD, which the company unveiled at CES in Las Vegas.…

World models: LLMs are not enough AI has mastered language, sort of. Mostly. With some occasional hiccups. But the real world is way messier. For the real world -- and robotics -- we need world models. In this episode of TechFirst, John Koetsier sits down with Kirin Sinha, founder and CEO of…

Who doesn't want a "zero labor home?" I certainly do. But I'm not sure LG’s new CLOiD robot is gonna get us there. Especially if you have stairs 😉😉😉 www.forbes.com/sites/johnko...

Agibot releases 3 humanoid robots in a single day, plus a quadruped "dog" robot ... They say they've shipped 5,000 already. All the details: www.forbes.com/sites/johnko...

Quantum computing, meet edge computing (thanks to diamonds) Quantum computers usually mean massive machines, cryogenic temperatures, and isolated data centers. But what if quantum computing could run at room temperature, fit inside a server rack — or even a satellite? In this episode of TechFirst,…

Robots with skin? Get your mind out of the gutter ... it's not for what you think it's for. My latest @ Forbes: Scientists Give Robots Skin With Pain Sensations And Human-Like Reflexes www.forbes.com/sites/johnko...

Ouch. Ouch. Big ouch! (And yes, 100% agree with Dan Wang here: Xiaomi's market valuation vs AppLovin's is just insane.) 🙃

In 2023 Marc Andreessen said AI won't cause unemployment Now we know that's utter bullshit Here's why: open.substack.com/pub/techfirs...

Hey you! Happy new year 🙂 I hope your 2025 was good, but I especially hope your 2026 will be amazing. May you have a great year for work, for relationships, and health. See you soon!