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AGCO, maker of Massey Ferguson and Fendt farm equipment, is partnering with Agility Robotics to test humanoid robots at its Hesston, Kansas facility starting in 2027. The two-legged robot, Digit, will initially handle sorting, stacking parts and moving storage totes rather than assembling machinery. Neither company disclosed the number of robots involved, the deal's value, or plans for wider deployment.
Atlanta's City Council voted unanimously to approve the HALT (Human Authority over Lethal Technology) Act, barring city employees and contractors, including police, from acquiring weaponized drones, robot dogs or other armed autonomous machines. The measure, introduced by Council member Liliana Bakhtiari, exempts only robots used for defusing explosives and keeps lethal decision-making in human hands.
Carolyn Marvin, a retired University of Pennsylvania communications professor, was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after repeatedly standing in front of an Avride delivery robot operating for Uber Eats in Center City, Philadelphia. She ignored police requests to let the robot pass, and said she has confronted the machines on multiple occasions to protest what she sees as their replacement of human delivery workers.
Nvidia announced investments in four German startups—Agile Robots, Avelios Medical, Mirelo and Reflex Aerospace—at the Invest in Germany Summit in Berlin, part of a nearly $10 billion commitment to companies, universities and research institutions across Europe. The company did not disclose the size of the individual investments. The announcement coincided with remarks from Chancellor Friedrich Merz urging German businesses, especially small and medium-sized firms, to adopt AI and make greater use of their existing data.
Retired University of Pennsylvania professor Carolyn Marvin was handcuffed and arrested in Philadelphia's Center City after standing in front of an Avride delivery robot to block its path. She was charged with disorderly conduct after refusing police orders to move, saying she was exercising her First Amendment right to protest. Marvin said she has repeatedly blocked the robots because she believes they threaten delivery workers' jobs.
Agility Robotics, founded by Jonathan Hurst from his Oregon State robotics lab, has launched Digit 5, a humanoid robot built to perform warehouse tasks such as lifting 23-kilogram bins onto high shelves. The robot runs for 90 minutes per 9-minute charge and is designed for sustained, shift-long physical labor. Hurst notes the final design is bulkier and less graceful than earlier research robots like ATRIAS, reflecting commercial tradeoffs made to deliver a working product.
The September 18 San Francisco event pitted influencer Frankie LaPenna against three remotely operated humanoid robots in MMA-style bouts, with LaPenna winning two of three matches. California officials have now said the event was held illegally, raising the possibility of legal consequences for organizers if they attempt to stage a repeat.
A growing number of websites are blocking autonomous AI agents from accessing their pages, according to reports on web traffic trends. Site operators are reportedly using technical measures to detect and restrict bot-driven agents acting on behalf of users, rather than human visitors.
Carolyn Marvin was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after standing in front of an Uber delivery robot and refusing to let it pass. She told local broadcaster ABC13 she deliberately blocks the robots because they displace human delivery workers. Police arrived, asked her to move, and cuffed her after she declined.
Meta revised upcoming terms of service for business accounts, removing the word 'train' and narrowing listed uses to 'advertising and business products.' The change followed a Nieman Lab report that the terms would let Meta broadly scrape websites linked to business accounts, potentially to train AI models; the new terms take effect October 30 with no opt-out option.
AI lab HUMXN is subsidizing plumbing, electrical, HVAC, air-duct, and carpet cleaning services for homeowners in three cities in exchange for recording technicians at work using wearable capture technology. Founder Thomas Unise says the goal is to collect real-world data on how skilled laborers perform tasks, which is scarce in formats AI systems can learn from. Service professionals are still paid for their work, while HUMXN covers the cost to homeowners.
Amazon has deployed more than 1 million robots across its fulfillment network, including robotic arms, floor-sorting units and pallet-moving machines. The company employs roughly 1.5 million full- and part-time workers, who increasingly share physical workspace with these machines rather than being separated from automated systems as in past decades.