PLUS: AI-powered excavators, China's H200 chip ban, and Sony's new ghost player
Good morning
Boston Dynamics just unveiled its production-ready Atlas robot, and it’s getting a major intelligence upgrade. The company announced a new partnership with Google DeepMind to power the bot’s AI, preparing it for real-world work in Hyundai's factories.
The collaboration aims to combine top-tier robotics with leading AI models. But will this fusion finally bridge the gap between impressive research demos and genuinely useful, autonomous humanoid workers?
In today’s Next in AI:
Atlas robot gets a DeepMind AI brain
Caterpillar’s AI-powered excavators
China’s ban on advanced Nvidia chips
Sony patents an AI 'Ghost Player'
Atlas Gets an AI Brain
Next in AI: Boston Dynamics unveiled its production-ready Atlas robot, featuring uncanny 360-degree joint rotation, and announced a new partnership with Google DeepMind to power its AI. The updated bot is already being prepped for use in Hyundai’s factories.
Decoded:
Showcased at CES, the new Atlas can rotate its head, wrists, and torso a full 360 degrees, a design choice meant to move beyond the physical limits of human anatomy. You can see the unnerving demo here.
The collaboration with Google's DeepMind aims to fuse Boston Dynamics' advanced hardware with leading-edge AI models, enabling Atlas to learn new skills and adapt to complex, unstructured environments more effectively.
The first real-world test for the six-foot-two, 200-pound robot is slated for Hyundai's EV manufacturing facility, with a planned deployment by 2028.
Why It Matters: This partnership signals a significant move toward creating autonomous humanoid robots that can perceive and act in the real world. By combining elite robotics with powerful AI, Atlas is positioned to become a practical tool for industrial automation, not just a research project.
The AI-Powered Jobsite
Next in AI: At CES, Caterpillar demonstrated an AI-powered mini excavator that lets operators control the machine using natural language voice commands. The collaboration with NVIDIA brings advanced, on-device AI to heavy machinery.
Decoded:
The entire AI system runs locally on an NVIDIA Jetson Thor platform, processing voice commands and generating responses without needing a cloud connection.
Voice interaction improves jobsite safety by allowing operators to quickly set operational boundaries, like an "E-Ceiling" to avoid overhead hazards.
This initiative extends beyond the field, as Caterpillar is also building factory digital twins using NVIDIA Omniverse to simulate and optimize its manufacturing lines.
Why It Matters: This demo showcases a major shift, moving powerful AI from data centers directly to the industrial edge. It signals a future where complex machinery becomes more intuitive and accessible, enhancing operator efficiency and safety on the job.
China's AI Chip Blockade
Next in AI: The Chinese government has ordered its major tech companies to stop buying Nvidia's advanced H200 AI chips. This move escalates tech trade tensions and threatens to slow down AI development within the country.
Decoded:
The order targets Nvidia's H200 chips, which are critical for the high-performance computing tasks that power modern AI applications.
This directive stems from growing international concerns over advanced technology exports to China, particularly in the AI and supercomputing sectors.
Without access to these crucial components, Chinese tech firms could face significant delays in product development and innovation.
Why It Matters: This directive creates a major hurdle for China's goal of becoming an AI superpower. It also highlights the increasing link between hardware access and geopolitical strategy in the global AI race.
PlayStation's AI Ghost
Next in AI: Sony has patented a new AI system called 'Ghost Player' designed to help PlayStation gamers who get stuck. The system can take over and demonstrate how to solve a puzzle or even complete a challenging section for you.
Decoded:
The system offers two distinct options: Guide Mode shows an AI-controlled character demonstrating the solution, while Complete Mode simply finishes the section for the player.
Unlike simple video guides, this AI would be trained on existing footage of the game, allowing it to generate solutions dynamically rather than playing back pre-recorded inputs.
This fits into a broader industry push for AI-powered assistance, similar to how Microsoft introduced Copilot for Gaming to act as a personalized gaming companion and coach.
Why It Matters: This technology could make complex games far more accessible, helping retain players who might otherwise quit out of frustration. It also points to a future where in-game help evolves from static guides to truly dynamic and personalized AI partners.
AI Pulse
An AI-generated hoax alleging widespread fraud at a major food delivery company went viral before being debunked as a fake, complete with an AI-generated employee badge used to fool journalists.
Character.AI agreed to settle multiple lawsuits alongside Google alleging its chatbot contributed to teen mental health crises and suicides, marking a high-profile resolution in the debate over AI safety for young users.
Dell stated that consumers aren't buying PCs based on AI features and that the term often confuses them more than it helps, signaling a significant shift away from the AI-first marketing push seen in 2025. Collaps