Boston Dynamics Retires Its Legendary Humanoid Robot

In a new video posted today, Boston Dynamics is sending off its hydraulic Atlas humanoid robot. “For almost a decade,” the video description reads, “Atlas has sparked our imagination, inspired the next generations of roboticists, and leapt over technical barriers in the field. Now it’s time for our hydraulic Atlas robot to kick back and relax.” Hydraulic Atlas has certainly earned some relaxation; Boston Dynamics has been absolutely merciless with its humanoid research program. This isn’t a criticism—sometimes being merciless to your hardware is necessary to push the envelope of what’s possible. And as spectators, we just just get to enjoy it, and this highlight reel includes unseen footage of Atlas doing things well along with unseen footage of Atlas doing things not so well. Which, let’s be honest, is what we’re all really here for. There’s so much more to the history of Atlas than this video shows. Atlas Continuer la lecture Boston Dynamics Retires Its Legendary Humanoid Robot

Microsoft Makes High-Stakes Play in Tech Cold War With Emirati A.I. Deal

Microsoft said it would invest $1.5 billion in G42, an Emirati company with ties to China, as Washington and Beijing maneuver to secure tech influence in the Gulf. More details