Imagine spending your weekends free of chores. Forget about the laundry, the dishes, and tidying up. It’s all been taken care of. And the one responsible is an amalgamation of motors, wires, and computer chips: a robot. That’s at least part of the promise of humanoid robotics. And Silicon Valley companies are lining up to get in on the action. Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, Tesla — and now, according to Bloomberg, Meta, and Apple — are each funding or developing humanoid robotics systems that could lead to a world where robots walk among us. There are already a number of robots in the world today, whether they’re moving objects in warehouses, delivering food to your table at restaurants, or, like Amazon’s Astro bot, rolling around your home like a motorized sentry. Humanoid robots, however, will be able to perform more specialized tasks using hands that can grab and grip without crushing objects and interact more seamlessly in a world that’s built for us. They could be deployed across factories to address labor shortages, assist in caring for the elderly, and perform tasks in environments that would put human lives at risk.

Full opinion : Silicon Valley is going all in on humanoid robots. Making them a reality will take decades.