Associated Press
China’s ongoing 2026 World Robot Conference in Beijing is showcasing about 3,000 robotics products from domestic manufacturers, highlighting the country’s push to move robots into factories and everyday applications. Unitree displayed humanoid robots boxing, dancing, and playing ping pong, while UBTECH demonstrated industrial machines and humanoid robots designed for emotional care. The conference comes amid growing U.S.-China tensions over robotics following a U.S. ban on new foreign-made humanoid and quadruped robot imports over national security concerns.
From "China Displays Robotics Ambitions at World Conference"
Associated Press (08/19/26) E. Eduardo Castillo
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Al Jazeera
Brazil will invest more than $440 million to expand its AI infrastructure while balancing technology partnerships between the U.S. and China. About $250 million will support a supercomputing project in Rio de Janeiro involving China’s Huawei and iFlytek, primarily for developing large language models and specialized AI applications. Nearly $200 million will be used to support the construction of a supercomputer in Rio Grande do Norte that Brazil expects to rank among the world’s 10 most powerful AI systems.
From "Brazil Launches AI Supercomputer Push While Balancing U.S., Chinese Tech"
Al Jazeera (08/21/26)
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The Next Web
Waymo unveiled a custom 5-nanometer ASIC designed to process raw LiDAR, radar, and camera data in its robotaxis, which the company said will improve vehicles’ perception of their environments and reduce processing delays. The chip delivers more than 1,000 TOPS (Trillions of Operations Per Second) for front-end processing, the company said. Waymo’s onboard computer system currently supports 13 cameras at once.
From "Waymo's Custom Chip Decides What the Car Sees"
The Next Web (08/20/26) Darius Popa
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U.S. News & World Report
A U.S. congressional advisory commission reported that China’s systematic collection and commercialization of data could give it an advantage in the global AI race. The report says China is gathering valuable enterprise, industrial, and physical-world data that can be used to train AI for manufacturing, autonomous vehicles, and humanoid robots. The commission recommended that Congress develop a national data strategy and treat data as a strategic economic asset.
From "China's Data Dominance Gives It AI Advantage, Says U.S. Advisory Body"
U.S. News & World Report (08/18/26) Laurie Chen
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Patch
The retail industry is preparing to replace traditional one-dimensional UPC barcodes with more advanced 2D, QR-like codes that can store detailed product information. The technology could significantly improve food safety by enabling retailers to identify and automatically block recalled products, while allowing consumers to check whether specific items are safe. GS1, the U.S.-based standards-setting body that oversees and licenses the world’s barcodes, is guiding the industry to start rolling out the new 2D barcodes next year.
From "Updated Barcodes Could Help Prevent the Next Cyclospora Outbreak"
Patch (08/19/26) Beth Dalbey
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Yahoo! News
Blind Egyptian siblings Mark (pictured) and Karen Morad are using AI to overcome the challenges of blindness. Mark, 20, developed ScribeMe, an AI-powered app that uses smartphone cameras and Meta smart glasses to describe surroundings, recognize objects, answer questions, and assist with studying. Karen, who lost her sight five years ago, used the technology during a safari in Kenya, receiving real-time descriptions of animals and their surroundings. ScribeMe now serves thousands of users in 140 countries and supports 20 languages.
From "Blind Egyptian's App Helps Others 'See' the World"
Yahoo! News (08/18/26) Mariam Rizk; Sherif Fahmy; Mohamed Ezz
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