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
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".
Alan Kay (invented personal computers) on AI. We love theater as system 1 (Kahneman) fires and fools, but we know it's not real due to system 2, logical reasoning. Exposed to LLMs sys 1 fires wildly but we have no sys 2 understanding of it to control our love of it. www.youtube.com/live/GmnBTCK...
Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the Turing Test
YouTube video by The Royal Society
www.youtube.com
October 13, 2025 at 6:18 AM
Alan Kay (invented personal computers) on AI. We love theater as system 1 (Kahneman) fires and fools, but we know it's not real due to system 2, logical reasoning. Exposed to LLMs sys 1 fires wildly but we have no sys 2 understanding of it to control our love of it. www.youtube.com/live/GmnBTCK...
This morning Prez Kornbluth of MIT sent a letter to US Dept of Ed Secretary McMahon. Key sentence replying to the demand for MIT to submit to POTUS whims in exchange for science funds:
Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.
Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.
October 10, 2025 at 3:16 PM
This morning Prez Kornbluth of MIT sent a letter to US Dept of Ed Secretary McMahon. Key sentence replying to the demand for MIT to submit to POTUS whims in exchange for science funds:
Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.
Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.
Promised 5,000 Optimus this year. "Tesla slashed its production goal to 2,000 a few months later ... Then, ... summer, staffers told Musk Tesla could meet the 2,000 target, but the robots wouldn’t be very useful due to issues with their hands." But, dancing!! www.theinformation.com/articles/elo...
As Elon Musk Preps Tesla’s Optimus for Prime Time, Big Hurdles Remain
When Elon Musk takes the stage at Tesla’s annual meeting next month, one of the centerpieces of his plan to impress shareholders will be a dancing troupe of Optimus bots, the humanoid machines that he...
www.theinformation.com
October 7, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Promised 5,000 Optimus this year. "Tesla slashed its production goal to 2,000 a few months later ... Then, ... summer, staffers told Musk Tesla could meet the 2,000 target, but the robots wouldn’t be very useful due to issues with their hands." But, dancing!! www.theinformation.com/articles/elo...
From my previous company. This Sawyer ran for 35,236 hours in a factory in Oregon. You can move within its workspace, and grab it as it is operating. This is what real robots, real deployments, and real ROI are all about; productive, reliable, and safe operation. www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
So proud of Sawyer, from my previous company. We designed them to run for 30,000 hours. That is 15 years (= 15 x 50wks x 40 hrs) of human work. This one provided 17.5 years of productivity. And… |...
So proud of Sawyer, from my previous company. We designed them to run for 30,000 hours. That is 15 years (= 15 x 50wks x 40 hrs) of human work. This one provided 17.5 years of productivity. And Sawyer...
www.linkedin.com
October 5, 2025 at 4:00 PM
From my previous company. This Sawyer ran for 35,236 hours in a factory in Oregon. You can move within its workspace, and grab it as it is operating. This is what real robots, real deployments, and real ROI are all about; productive, reliable, and safe operation. www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
My attempt to establish cred as a humanoid realist may not be working as well as I hoped. Today I was offered a chance to invest in a pre-seed for a humanoid robot company that will have $1T (yes they said "T") revenues in 7 years. Repeat essay from last Friday: rodneybrooks.com/why-todays-h...
Why Today’s Humanoids Won’t Learn Dexterity – Rodney Brooks
rodneybrooks.com
October 3, 2025 at 6:20 PM
My attempt to establish cred as a humanoid realist may not be working as well as I hoped. Today I was offered a chance to invest in a pre-seed for a humanoid robot company that will have $1T (yes they said "T") revenues in 7 years. Repeat essay from last Friday: rodneybrooks.com/why-todays-h...
Just for the record this is a stupid headline. The robots are carrying out automated steps moving samples around and using vision to apply tools. They don't "know" what they are doing and certainly have no conception(!) of what a baby, human, or conception are. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
Robots are learning to make human babies. Twenty have already been born.
One in six people of reproductive age suffer from infertility. Start-ups are using AI-powered robots to increase IVF success rates and lower costs.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 1, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Just for the record this is a stupid headline. The robots are carrying out automated steps moving samples around and using vision to apply tools. They don't "know" what they are doing and certainly have no conception(!) of what a baby, human, or conception are. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
My 2nd law of robotics: When robots and people coexist in the same spaces, the robots must not take away from people’s agency, particularly when the robots are failing, as inevitably they will at times. -- Here it is cops stymied by Waymos. www.sfgate.com/bayarea/arti...
‘No driver, no hands, no clue’: Driverless car pulled over on Bay Area road
Police say they warned the company about the "glitch."
www.sfgate.com
September 30, 2025 at 5:13 PM
My 2nd law of robotics: When robots and people coexist in the same spaces, the robots must not take away from people’s agency, particularly when the robots are failing, as inevitably they will at times. -- Here it is cops stymied by Waymos. www.sfgate.com/bayarea/arti...
I have just finished and just published some weekend reading for you. 9,600 words of not easy reading, on why today's humanoid robots won't learn to be dexterous. rodneybrooks.com/why-todays-h...
Why Today’s Humanoids Won’t Learn Dexterity – Rodney Brooks
rodneybrooks.com
September 27, 2025 at 12:06 AM
I have just finished and just published some weekend reading for you. 9,600 words of not easy reading, on why today's humanoid robots won't learn to be dexterous. rodneybrooks.com/why-todays-h...