The robot race is fueling a fight for training data

Roboticists believe that by using new AI techniques, they will achieve something the field has pined after for decades: more capable robots that can move freely through unfamiliar environments and tackle challenges they've never seen before. "It's like being strapped to the front of a rocket," says Russ Tedrake, vice president of robotics research at the Toyota Research Institute, says of the field's pace right now. Tedrake says he has seen plenty of hype cycles rise and fall, but none like this one. "I've been in the field for 20-some years. This is different," he says.