Rodney Brooks
@rodneyabrooks.bsky.social
Primarily Robotics and AI. Distinguishing hype-notism from plausibility one press release at a time. rodneybrooks.com/blog people.csail.mit.edu/brooks
Just published my annual predictions update, tracking from Jan 1st 2018, with new commentary and new ten year predictions. It is long. rodneybrooks.com/predictions-...
Predictions Scorecard, 2026 January 01 – Rodney Brooks
rodneybrooks.com
January 1, 2026 at 5:32 AM
Just published my annual predictions update, tracking from Jan 1st 2018, with new commentary and new ten year predictions. It is long. rodneybrooks.com/predictions-...
Thank you Sudheer Apte for this great post. Yes, robots are hard. robotsinplainenglish.com/e/2025-12-27...
Robots Are Hard
Revisiting the original Roomba and its simple architecture
robotsinplainenglish.com
December 29, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Thank you Sudheer Apte for this great post. Yes, robots are hard. robotsinplainenglish.com/e/2025-12-27...
Some humans just aren't very good at tracking 2d coordinate transforms in their heads. www.reddit.com/r/Unexpected...
From the Unexpected community on Reddit: Human motion capture teleoperated robot exactly like Real Steel!
Explore this post and more from the Unexpected community
www.reddit.com
December 28, 2025 at 11:47 PM
Some humans just aren't very good at tracking 2d coordinate transforms in their heads. www.reddit.com/r/Unexpected...
1/5 Some humanoid companies are admitting things are harder than the hype suggests. `Billions of dollars are flowing into humanoid robot startups, as investors bet that the industry will soon put humanlike machines in warehouses, factories and our living rooms.' www.wsj.com/tech/ai/huma...
Even the Companies Making Humanoid Robots Think They’re Overhyped
Despite billions of dollars in investment, startups say their androids can only perform simple tasks.
www.wsj.com
December 26, 2025 at 3:15 AM
1/5 Some humanoid companies are admitting things are harder than the hype suggests. `Billions of dollars are flowing into humanoid robot startups, as investors bet that the industry will soon put humanlike machines in warehouses, factories and our living rooms.' www.wsj.com/tech/ai/huma...
Much of SF lost power last night. Waymos blocked intersections across the city, even though they are Wayless than 1% of cars on the roads. They accumulated at their failure points--intersections with no green lights, in busy areas, and shut down traffic there.
December 21, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Much of SF lost power last night. Waymos blocked intersections across the city, even though they are Wayless than 1% of cars on the roads. They accumulated at their failure points--intersections with no green lights, in busy areas, and shut down traffic there.
Good to see some humility for once. finance.yahoo.com/news/elon-mu...
Elon Musk Says SpaceX’s Starship Is ‘One of the Most Profound Things’ In Human History and as Important as the Development of Life Itself
Elon Musk outlines why SpaceX’s Starship represents a historic shift in spaceflight, driven by full reusability and long-term economic impact.
finance.yahoo.com
December 17, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Good to see some humility for once. finance.yahoo.com/news/elon-mu...
Terry Tao, Fields medallist at UCLA, who has been an early technology adopter to help in *doing* real mathematics gives his take on LLMs and how they are artificially clever, which he describes as useful but weaker than intelligence. mathstodon.xyz/@tao/1157223...
Terence Tao (@tao@mathstodon.xyz)
I doubt that anything resembling genuine "artificial general intelligence" is within reach of current #AI tools. However, I think a weaker, but still quite valuable, type of "artificial general cleve...
mathstodon.xyz
December 16, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Terry Tao, Fields medallist at UCLA, who has been an early technology adopter to help in *doing* real mathematics gives his take on LLMs and how they are artificially clever, which he describes as useful but weaker than intelligence. mathstodon.xyz/@tao/1157223...
Largely accurate story, but has someone saying I am wrong about humanoids needing human level dexterity. NO. I am saying humanoid companies are claiming they will get it, so humanoids can replace humans everywhere, & I am saying their current methods won't attain it. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/14/b...
He’s the Godfather of Modern Robotics. He Says the Field Has Lost Its Way.
www.nytimes.com
December 14, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Largely accurate story, but has someone saying I am wrong about humanoids needing human level dexterity. NO. I am saying humanoid companies are claiming they will get it, so humanoids can replace humans everywhere, & I am saying their current methods won't attain it. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/14/b...
At "Autonomy Visualized" at a Tesla store in Miami, see a five second video clip in this story, where the remote operator for an Optimus robot takes off their headset, mindlessly reproduced by the Optimus robot followed by falling over backwards. Oh dear. electrek.co/2025/12/07/t...
Tesla Optimus robot takes a suspicious tumble in new demo
A new video surfacing from a Tesla demonstration in Miami this weekend shows the Optimus humanoid robot taking a nasty...
electrek.co
December 8, 2025 at 7:56 PM
At "Autonomy Visualized" at a Tesla store in Miami, see a five second video clip in this story, where the remote operator for an Optimus robot takes off their headset, mindlessly reproduced by the Optimus robot followed by falling over backwards. Oh dear. electrek.co/2025/12/07/t...
This is where I live.
December 7, 2025 at 6:52 PM
This is where I live.
I think a lot of people saw this coming... users enshittifying the commons until they collapse; now using LLM writing tools.
www.wired.com/story/ai-slo...
www.wired.com/story/ai-slo...
AI Slop Is Ruining Reddit for Everyone
Reddit is considered one of the most human spaces left on the internet, but mods and users are overwhelmed with slop posts in the most popular subreddits.
www.wired.com
December 5, 2025 at 7:14 PM
I think a lot of people saw this coming... users enshittifying the commons until they collapse; now using LLM writing tools.
www.wired.com/story/ai-slo...
www.wired.com/story/ai-slo...
Saw person with 2" fingernails use chopsticks and type on phone tonight, as fast as anyone. Human brain consumes 20W total. Bet she didn't use 1kWh to learn either skill. Humanoid companies using big learning on big data to learn dexterity, eat your hearts out. You got it wrong. Humans are gooder.
November 29, 2025 at 7:17 AM
Saw person with 2" fingernails use chopsticks and type on phone tonight, as fast as anyone. Human brain consumes 20W total. Bet she didn't use 1kWh to learn either skill. Humanoid companies using big learning on big data to learn dexterity, eat your hearts out. You got it wrong. Humans are gooder.
I meant "don't make sense", not "do make sense"...
I have consistently warned about and explained the issue with safety of full size walking robots. The touted applications just do make sense with the amounts of kinetic energy pumped into current full size humanoids. www.cnbc.com/2025/11/21/f...
Figure AI sued by whistleblower who warned that startup's robots could 'fracture a human skull'
A former engineer for Figure AI filed a lawsuit against the company, claiming he was unlawfully terminated after warning executives about product safety.
www.cnbc.com
November 26, 2025 at 8:45 PM
I meant "don't make sense", not "do make sense"...
I have consistently warned about and explained the issue with safety of full size walking robots. The touted applications just do make sense with the amounts of kinetic energy pumped into current full size humanoids. www.cnbc.com/2025/11/21/f...
Figure AI sued by whistleblower who warned that startup's robots could 'fracture a human skull'
A former engineer for Figure AI filed a lawsuit against the company, claiming he was unlawfully terminated after warning executives about product safety.
www.cnbc.com
November 26, 2025 at 7:30 PM
I have consistently warned about and explained the issue with safety of full size walking robots. The touted applications just do make sense with the amounts of kinetic energy pumped into current full size humanoids. www.cnbc.com/2025/11/21/f...
This is not good news for either SpaceX or NASA's mandate to land astronauts on the Moon using 10+ launches of Starship to fuel the lander in LEO. Starship getting things into orbit: 0 of 11. New Glenn: 2 of 2. www.space.com/space-explor...
SpaceX's 1st 'Version 3' Super Heavy Starship booster buckles under pressure during initial tests
Looks like Starship V3 might need a little more work before launching to space.
www.space.com
November 22, 2025 at 4:24 AM
This is not good news for either SpaceX or NASA's mandate to land astronauts on the Moon using 10+ launches of Starship to fuel the lander in LEO. Starship getting things into orbit: 0 of 11. New Glenn: 2 of 2. www.space.com/space-explor...
Blue Origin today announced major engine and performance upgrades for existing New Glenn rockets, plus a bigger one adding 2 engines to each stage making it 9 & 4. Also independently working on a 3 stage New Armstrong a much bigger and more powerful rocket. New Glenns compared to Apollo's Saturn V.
November 20, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Blue Origin today announced major engine and performance upgrades for existing New Glenn rockets, plus a bigger one adding 2 engines to each stage making it 9 & 4. Also independently working on a 3 stage New Armstrong a much bigger and more powerful rocket. New Glenns compared to Apollo's Saturn V.
Blue Origin just landed booster on 2nd orbital launch. 99,000lb to LEO compared to 110,000lb for 3 booster Falcon Heavy with all 3 landing. This is a leap frog. Today's payloads are headed to Mars in the next few hours. Different dev approach than Starship. Slower but cheaper, and ultimately faster.
November 13, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Blue Origin just landed booster on 2nd orbital launch. 99,000lb to LEO compared to 110,000lb for 3 booster Falcon Heavy with all 3 landing. This is a leap frog. Today's payloads are headed to Mars in the next few hours. Different dev approach than Starship. Slower but cheaper, and ultimately faster.
Tonight in center Waymo in a phalanx of three with another two rows behind. In 4.5 mile journey across SF it as only the last 14 blocks where there moments where no other Waymos were visible. Before that always one within three car lengths and sometimes up to three others.
November 11, 2025 at 5:06 AM
Tonight in center Waymo in a phalanx of three with another two rows behind. In 4.5 mile journey across SF it as only the last 14 blocks where there moments where no other Waymos were visible. Before that always one within three car lengths and sometimes up to three others.
Jobs changing so fast! Today in Kendall Sq Cambridge MA saw a human operated backhoe digging a trench in the road and a guy standing there ducking the backhoe pushing dirt spilled on the blacktop back into the trench. I had exactly that job in Dec 1974 in Adelaide Australia. 51 years ago. No change.
November 6, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Jobs changing so fast! Today in Kendall Sq Cambridge MA saw a human operated backhoe digging a trench in the road and a guy standing there ducking the backhoe pushing dirt spilled on the blacktop back into the trench. I had exactly that job in Dec 1974 in Adelaide Australia. 51 years ago. No change.
A short essay following up on the recently rediscovered poem by Adrienne Rich, titled "Artificial Intelligence", and written in 1961. I do what she suggested back then. I forced AI systems to write some poems. rodneybrooks.com/a-prophetic-...
A Prophetic Poem about Artificial Intelligence Written in 1961 – Rodney Brooks
rodneybrooks.com
November 3, 2025 at 3:25 AM
A short essay following up on the recently rediscovered poem by Adrienne Rich, titled "Artificial Intelligence", and written in 1961. I do what she suggested back then. I forced AI systems to write some poems. rodneybrooks.com/a-prophetic-...
The origin of the term AGI by @stevenlevy.bsky.social-I have worked in AI for 50 years and still think we were chasing what AGI claims to be chasing. Meta now chases ASI--Artificial Super Intelligence. I think we should all be chasing AHI--Artificial Hyper Intelligence. www.wired.com/story/the-ma...
The Man Who Invented AGI
Everyone is obsessed with artificial general intelligence—the stage when AI can match all feats of human cognition. The guy who named it saw it as a threat.
www.wired.com
November 2, 2025 at 6:27 PM
The origin of the term AGI by @stevenlevy.bsky.social-I have worked in AI for 50 years and still think we were chasing what AGI claims to be chasing. Meta now chases ASI--Artificial Super Intelligence. I think we should all be chasing AHI--Artificial Hyper Intelligence. www.wired.com/story/the-ma...
Pay $500/month&request on phone app a task to be done-human virtually in your house teleops robot-sometimes succeeds. "In reality, projects like Tesla’s Optimus or 1X’s NEO are less about practical consumer robotics and more about cashing in off of technological hype." futurism.com/future-socie...
$20,000 Robot Servant Comes With a Major Catch
Owners of the NEO butler-bot from 1X will have to schedule a time for remote operators to plug in and complete tasks.
futurism.com
November 2, 2025 at 12:32 AM
Pay $500/month&request on phone app a task to be done-human virtually in your house teleops robot-sometimes succeeds. "In reality, projects like Tesla’s Optimus or 1X’s NEO are less about practical consumer robotics and more about cashing in off of technological hype." futurism.com/future-socie...
Having run an 800+ person AI/CS research lab at MIT I can say that diversity of thought and passionate arguments are at the core of advancing. Laying off 600 researchers at Meta today Alexandr Wang explained: By reducing the size of our team, fewer conversations will be required to make a decision.
October 23, 2025 at 6:44 AM
Having run an 800+ person AI/CS research lab at MIT I can say that diversity of thought and passionate arguments are at the core of advancing. Laying off 600 researchers at Meta today Alexandr Wang explained: By reducing the size of our team, fewer conversations will be required to make a decision.
No they are not here. Read the story & judge for yourself. Flying cars used to be things that could drive on roads & fly. Now they are simply electric helicopters on the very edge of being able to fly people due to the physics of flight and today's known battery tech. www.wsj.com/lifestyle/ca...
I Test Drove a Flying Car. Get Ready, They’re Here.
Dan Neil takes a test flight of the Pivotal BlackFly, a series-produced electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle made for consumers
www.wsj.com
October 22, 2025 at 7:42 AM
No they are not here. Read the story & judge for yourself. Flying cars used to be things that could drive on roads & fly. Now they are simply electric helicopters on the very edge of being able to fly people due to the physics of flight and today's known battery tech. www.wsj.com/lifestyle/ca...
NASA is understandably getting wobbly about SpaceX's ability to land astronauts on the Moon soon. This morning on Fox acting NASA administrator Sean Duffy: "I'm in the process of opening that contract up...a space race in...American companies competing...who can actually get us back to the Moon".
October 20, 2025 at 6:27 PM
NASA is understandably getting wobbly about SpaceX's ability to land astronauts on the Moon soon. This morning on Fox acting NASA administrator Sean Duffy: "I'm in the process of opening that contract up...a space race in...American companies competing...who can actually get us back to the Moon".