Are Humanoid Robots Ready to Be Deployed? Neo and a dozen other robots with human forms are scheduled to hit the market. "The same robot that can land a backflip might not be able to walk up a flight of stairs," a researcher said. On a recent sunny day in Silicon Valley, I visited the industrial headquarters of 1X Technologies. Security was tight, so I had to put a sticker over my cellphone's camera and talk my way out of signing an N.D.A. before I was brought into an enormous space to meet Neo, the company's home robot. Neo stands five feet six and has no facial features except for two black cameras in place of eyes. The robot is a humanoid--its design is inspired by the human form--and its proportions are a blend of those of the median American male and those of the median American female. But Neo has no skin. Instead, it wears a beige nylon turtleneck bodysuit, gloves, and padded shoes over a see-through carapace. Under that is a skeleton made up of more than a hundred whizzing motors and cordlike artificial tendons that control Neo's limbs. Neo's cozy, minimalist aesthetic allows it to blend into the background. If it served me an espresso at a café, I'm not certain I would look up from my phone. The robot weighs just sixty-six pounds, and I was able to pick it up in a bridal carry. It communicates through a speaker in its chest, using several different voices; the default one is in a calm but authoritative masculine register, an A.I.-modulated mixture of several voice actors. Neo can talk, listen, and respond to commands.

Modular, one of the most promising chip software startups of the AI era, heads for a multibillion-dollar exit. Qualcomm will acquire the Silicon Valley chip startup Modular for nearly $4 billion. The companies announced the acquisition on Wednesday; Qualcomm said it expects to issue up to 19.2 million shares of common stock in the deal, which works out to just under $4 billion based on the company's last closing share price. The deal, which includes $300 million for Modular employees, comes nine months after the chip startup raised $250 million at a $1.6 billion valuation . It's expected to close in the second half of this year.

People stand near humanoid robots on display at the Nvidia booth during the China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) in Beijing, China June 22, 2026. Nvidia Corp. is working to make humanoid robots safer around people, arguing that they'll need to handle split-second decisions before they can be trusted to work closely with humans. The chipmaker is offering software and semiconductors that will allow humanoids to enter the workplace and truly interact with people -- even making physical contact if necessary. Nvidia's Halos software, developed from systems used for self-driving vehicles, will be the basis of computers that give robots a much better awareness of what's happening around them, the company said in a statement Monday. Nvidia and its Silicon Valley peers are racing to develop technology for robotics, billing it as the next big market for artificial intelligence. The machines will evolve into a market with billions of devices, tech executives predict.

NVIDIA introduces Halos for Robotics, which the company calls the industry's first full-stack safety system for robotics and physical AI operating near people.

Musk's SpaceX buys AI coding start-up for $60bn days after IPO SpaceX has agreed to buy AI coding start-up Cursor for $60bn (£45bn) just days after its bumper initial public offering (IPO). Elon Musk's rocket company will take over Anysphere, which makes the artificial intelligence coding agent. The move comes after SpaceX joined New York's tech-focused Nasdaq stock exchange on Friday in the biggest ever listing, valuing it at more than $2tn and raising $85.7bn . A surge in SpaceX's share price on Monday and Tuesday saw the company overtake Amazon to become the world's fifth most valuable company. The companies have been partners since April, when SpaceX announced it had the right to either buy it for $60bn, or pay $10bn for the work they have done together.

Nvidia GeForce Now is offering significant discounts on yearly subscriptions, with the Ultimate tier reduced to $130 annually, saving $70. PCWorld highlights this limited-time promotion runs until July 8th, making cloud gaming more accessible for budget-conscious users. The service enables streaming PC games from existing libraries on various devices without requiring powerful hardware. Nvidia's GeForce Now streaming service is a great way to make use of a big Steam library without needing a beefy gaming PC. That's becoming a much more appealing option, as prices for RAM and storage become untenable ( thanks, in no small part, to Nvidia). If you're thinking about signing up, Nvidia is offering up to $70 off a yearly subscription, but only for the next month or so. The "Summer Sale" brings the price of the Ultimate tier down to $130 for a year, and the Performance tier down to $65.

PCWorld highlights how AI-focused hardware like Nvidia's RTX Spark creates challenges for traditional PC benchmarking methods that may no longer adequately assess performance. Current benchmarks struggle to evaluate devices designed for hybrid computing, where workloads split between local hardware and cloud services. The industry needs new benchmarking approaches that answer whether AI PCs are right for individual users' specific needs.

PCWorld compares Nvidia's RTX Spark and Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2 Elite processors for AI-powered mini PCs, highlighting their distinct strengths for different use cases. Qualcomm's chip excels in single-core performance and general productivity tasks, while Nvidia's platform dominates AI content creation and gaming with its RTX 5070-equivalent GPU. The choice depends on specific needs, as both face compatibility challenges with some applications requiring emulation or specialized optimization for optimal performance. One big thing changed at Computex this past week: Windows on Arm processors became the next big thing for Windows desktops, specifically for mini PCs designed for productivity and AI applications. So which Arm processor is the best bet? Until they hit our test bench, we can't say for sure.

PCWorld reports that Nvidia's rumored N1X chip could revolutionize Windows laptops with a 20-core CPU, Blackwell GPU, and impressive AI performance potentially rivaling Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2 Elite. The N1X represents Nvidia's entry into laptop processors, promising better battery life and AI capabilities as laptop costs soar and consumers seek affordable alternatives. However, gaming performance may suffer due to x86 emulation challenges that plague all Arm-based processors, limiting the chip's appeal for gamers. Nvidia is evidently not content to be the world's most valuable company, as the AI and GPU giant now appears primed to dive headfirst into the choppy waters of the laptop processor market. Whether that will help or hurt its fortunes remains to be seen, as the Internet has been aflame this month with rumors that Nvidia will unveil a new "N1X" chip this week at Computex alongside a weaker N1 chip - and the word is both will be SoC (system-on-chip) silicon aimed at Windows laptops. That could be a big deal for anyone who wants to buy a laptop in the next few years, because everything I've heard about the N1X suggests it's optimized for AI performance, battery life, and perhaps even gaming. If Nvidia's efforts to partner with companies like MediaTek and Intel has produced a capable CPU married to a svelte Nvidia GPU on a single chip, utilizing Nvidia's expertise in building high-performance systems for AI and enterprise use, that's potentially a game-changer for the laptop market - and a big challenge to AMD, Apple, and Qualcomm's flagship laptop chips.

PCWorld anticipates Nvidia's N1X launch at Computex, featuring an Arm-based APU with 20 CPU cores and Blackwell graphics that could match RTX 5060 laptop performance. The article highlights growing concerns about PC hardware affordability, with examples like Steam Deck price increases suggesting higher costs may become the norm. This trend matters for consumers as powerful new hardware from Nvidia, AMD, and Intel may deliver impressive performance but potentially at premium prices that limit accessibility. The PC industry is once again on the brink of a pivotal moment in history--or so appears to be the case, given the rumors about Computex next week. In particular, the internet anticipates the launch of Nvidia's N1X, an Arm-based APU expected to marry ferocious CPU performance with equally knockout GPU chops.