A dozen or so young men and women, eyes obscured by VR headsets, shuffle around a faux kitchen inside a tech company's Silicon Valley headquarters. Their arms are bent at the elbows, palms facing down. One pilot stops to pick up a bottle of hot sauce from a counter, hinging at the waist, making sure to keep her hands in view of the camera on her headset at all times. Meters away, two humanoid robots, with bulbous joints and expressionless plastic domes for faces, stand at a desk. In front of each is a crumpled towel; to its right, a basket. More often than not, the towel catches on the edge of the basket and the robot freezes. Then an engineer steps in and returns the towel to a crumpled heap, and the sequence begins again. This was the scene inside the Silicon Valley headquarters of Figure AI on an August morning this year. The three-year-old startup was in a sprint ahead of the October announcement of its next robot, the Figure 03, which was undergoing top-secret training when TIME visited.

In a world where human boxers are at risk of dangerous injuries, we may have a glimpse of what the fight of the future could look like. New footage shows the world's first humanoid robot boxing tournament, which took place over the weekend in Hangzhou, east China. In the bizarre clip, two lifesize robots wearing gloves and protective headgear fight each other in a ring as a human officiator looks on. Each fighter robot weighs about 35kg and is 4.3ft (132cm) tall – roughly the height of the average eight-year-old child. Both the bots initially have trouble seeing exactly where their opponent is before successfully trading punches and kicks, to the delight of a baying crowd.

In celebration of the launch of International Women in Robotics Day, the Women in Robotics organization is proud to release another "50 women in robotics you need to know about" collection of stories. With a growing robotics industry there are many opportunities for everyone to get involved. This is why we showcase the wide range of roles that women play in robotics today. Since 2012, the Women in Robotics organization has released a list of women building the future in robotics. The list has covered all ages, career stages, types of occupation and experience.

Humanoid robots are advanced robots that are designed to look and move like humans. They are often equipped with sensors and cameras that allow them to recognize human faces and emotions, respond to voice commands and carry out conversations. Humanoid robots can be programmed to perform a wide range of tasks, such as assisting humans in daily activities, working in manufacturing plants, providing healthcare services, and performing search and rescue operations in hazardous environments. Compared to conventional robots, humanoid robots provide a number of benefits. One of their main advantages is that they can communicate with people in a more intuitive and natural way.

"She cooks, she cleans, and she still finds time to play ball with Elroy," George and Jane Jetsons' six-and-a-half-year-old son. Set in the year 2062 and described in the 1960s animated sitcom The Jetsons as an "aluminum-encased, battery-powered robotic maid" who is the "perfect answer for any modern family," Rosie the Robot takes care of chores around the house while also serving as friend and confidante of mother Jane. Sarcastic and funny, Rosie is a hardworking nanny and aunt figure to children Elroy and Judy. While many technologies The Jetsons predicted for 2062 have become reality, such as video calls and smart watches, the full realization of robots as the 1960s ideal friend and helper who makes life easier has yet to be fulfilled. For twenty-five years, roboticist Daniel Theobald has been on a mission to create robots that can solve the world's most pressing problems.

The robotics industry had its fair share of memorable moments in 2022. Here we take a look back at our picks for the most memorable robotics stories of the year. The list is comprised of moments that made us laugh and cringe, as well as moments that left us surprised or amazed at the capabilities of various robots. Please let us know in the comments what you'll remember most from 2022. Subscribe to The Robot Report Newsletter to stay updated on the robotics stories you need to know about.

Artificial intelligence in China is facing unprecedented development opportunities and has many advantages in terms of development. Let us make a few considerations in this regard. Significant progress has been made in the IT environment and the technological level of human society between big data, cloud computing and the Internet, which are closely related to AI and have developed quickly. AI has started to have a significant impact on the structure of human society and the dual human-machine environment is gradually developing into the third human-machine-intelligent machine environment. The cooperation and coexistence of humans, machines and intelligent machines will become the new normal of the social structure. Such harmonious coexistence is hopefully not only a need for social development, but also provides a distinct place for AI.

Robotics is the intersection of science, engineering and technology that produces machines, called robots, that replicate or substitute for human actions. Pop culture has always been fascinated with robots -- examples include R2-D2, the Terminator and WALL-E. These over-exaggerated, humanoid concepts of robots usually seem like a caricature of the real thing. But are they more forward thinking than we realize? Robots are gaining intellectual and mechanical capabilities that don't put the possibility of a R2-D2-like machine out of reach in the future.

Venture capital firms are eager to allocate money into robotics firms in a wide range of industries from shipping to healthcare as more automation became a focus during the global pandemic. In 2021, funding globally for robotics and drone companies rose to $14.9 billion, according to PitchBook. The amount of funding raised for robotics in 2022 has been steady. By January, VCs allocated $560 million of funding into robotics startups, excluding the round for Wandelbots, a German industrial robotics company that raised $84 million for its Series C round in January. The funding for the company's no-code platform came from U.S. investor Insight Partners, which led the round and was also supported by its existing backers - Microsoft (MSFT) - Get Microsoft Corporation Report, 83North, Next47, Paua, Atlantic Labs and EQT.

On March 8, International Women's Day (IWD) we celebrate the political, socioeconomic and cultural achievements of women and the women right's movement towards gender equality. "Whilst the social and political rights of women are greater in some places than others, there is no country where gender equality has been achieved" says Mary Evans, professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science in her book "The persistence of gender inequality" (Polity Press 2017). In 2022 this situation has not changed either globally or at the European level as indicated in the EU Gender Equality index for 2020 where the average of the EU is 67.4% and the maximum is Sweden with 83.8%. Although there has been a clear commitment from the European Union on gender equality (specially in innovation and science), there are still structural forms of inequality that must be challenged and changed. It is not the aim of this article to analyse or comment on those, but to show what is being done and is available, especially in the European Union, for us to contribute as individuals and as a community towards gender equality in the field of robotics.