OLIX raises $312M to challenge Nvidia's inference chip monopoly
UK startup OLIX closed a $312M Series B at $3.3B valuation with backing from Arm and Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, betting photonic chips that eliminate costly memory can compete against Nvidia in AI inference.
KUKA's AI platform goes live on 285 factory robots in Ohio
KUKA deployed its Automation Management Platform at a Toledo Jeep plant, marking the first North American production deployment of AI-orchestrated industrial automation at scale.
Chinese autonomous mining OEM CiDi targets overseas expansion
CiDi, Hong Kong-listed Chinese autonomous mining equipment maker, is expanding overseas sales this year, threatening Western incumbents Caterpillar and Komatsu in global autonomous haulage markets.
Infinity raises $15M to crack the CUDA moat with autonomous chip software
Infinity.inc closed a $15M seed round to automate inference software for any AI chip, already generating millions in ARR with d-Matrix and threatening Nvidia's software lock-in.
Japan's Big Three Robot Makers Pick One Platform
FANUC, Yaskawa, and Kawasaki Heavy Industries join NVIDIA's open Cosmos coalition, unifying industrial robotics software for the first time and shifting competition away from proprietary robot OS layers.
SK Hynix files $28B US IPO as HBM becomes AI's bottleneck
SK Hynix's $28B IPO filing marks a major moment for the leading AI memory chip supplier entering US public markets, revealing HBM revenue exceeded $10B in H1 2026 alone.
Agility Robotics goes public via $2.5B SPAC, first US humanoid on markets
Agility Robotics' $2.5B SPAC merger with Churchill Capital XI produces $620M in proceeds and reveals a $300M single-customer order for 1,000 Digit v5 robots, positioning the company as America's first publicly listed pure-play humanoid manufacturer.
NVIDIA Sets the Safety Standard for Robots Entering Factory Floors
NVIDIA launches Halos for Robotics, the first ANAB-accredited safety system for autonomous robots, immediately adopted by Agility across Amazon and major logistics operations.
Hydra Host's $100M Series A signals NVIDIA's bet on distributed GPU markets
Hydra Host closed a $100M Series A with NVIDIA as strategic backer to scale its GPU-as-a-service operating system across 50+ data centers, validating a two-sided marketplace model for idle compute capacity.
PsiQuantum breaks ground on $1B photonic quantum facility
PsiQuantum began construction on a utility-scale quantum computer in Australia, backed by nearly $1B in government funding and a $1B Series E, betting silicon-photonics will beat superconducting rivals to commercial fault tolerance.
Qualcomm to acquire Tenstorrent for $8–10B, reshaping AI chip hierarchy
Qualcomm is acquiring AI chip startup Tenstorrent for $8–10B, giving the San Diego giant a RISC-V accelerator designed to outperform Nvidia on inference workloads that now dominate AI infrastructure costs.
China's humanoid makers flood public markets in synchronized IPO wave
EngineAI, Unitree, and Linkerbot are simultaneously filing for public listings, consolidating China's 90% share of global humanoid robot production into publicly traded capital.
Huawei pushes Ascend chips into Latin America, accelerates 950DT launch
Huawei is deploying its Ascend AI processors in Latin America while accelerating its next-gen 950DT chip to August, directly challenging Nvidia's regional dominance and U.S. export controls.
NEURA Robotics raises $1.4B, activates Big Tech coalition for European physical AI
NEURA Robotics closed a $1.4B Series C led by Tether Investments with participation from Nvidia, Amazon, and Qualcomm to scale cognitive robots to millions by 2030, reshaping who controls physical AI infrastructure.
Nvidia pairs with Unitree to ship first open humanoid robot platform
Nvidia and Unitree launched an integrated humanoid robot reference design with Stanford, ETH Zurich, and two other research institutions as first customers, clearing a path to mass production while Unitree navigates U.S. export risk.
Intel and Foxconn team up to challenge Nvidia's AI infrastructure grip
Intel and Foxconn announced a partnership to manufacture next-gen AI data center systems, leveraging Foxconn's global scale to distribute Intel's non-GPU compute stack and edge AI platforms.
Orbital Industries raises $50M to ship AI-designed cooling fluid in 2027
London startup Orbital Industries closed a $50M Series B to commercialize AI-designed dielectric cooling for next-gen GPUs, with NVIDIA's venture arm backing the bet that simulation-driven materials discovery reaches production faster than traditional chemistry.
Broadcom's $10.7B quarter signals ASIC chip dominance over GPUs
Broadcom reports $10.7B in AI chip revenue for Q2 2026 with approximately 140% YoY growth, validating purpose-built ASICs as the dominant inference architecture against Nvidia's GPU incumbency.
Groq raises $650M to become inference cloud after Nvidia deal
Groq pivots from chip maker to cloud services after licensing its LPU to Nvidia for $20B, raising $650M from existing backers to build inference infrastructure.
Human Archive raises $8.2M to turn Indian gig workers into robot training data
A Stanford-founded startup has raised $8.2M to equip Indian gig workers with sensors to capture human-motion data for robotics companies, but faces regulatory pushback and platform rejection.