High 10 robotics developments of December 2025

Regardless of the standard lull across the holidays, the robotics business continued to maneuver at a fast tempo. In December 2025, we noticed pillars of the robotics group face troublesome occasions, new positions for leaders in business, and even some new robotic releases.

Listed here are the ten hottest articles on The Robotic Report prior to now month. Subscribe to The Robotic Report Publication and hearken to The Robotic Report Podcast to remain updated on the most recent business robotics developments.

10. Humanoid says its first bipedal robotic can begin strolling simply 48 hours after meeting

Humanoid, a London-based robotics developer, in December 2025 introduced the HMND 01 Alpha Bipedal. That is the corporate’s first humanoid robotic, which it constructed from an preliminary design to a working prototype in simply 5 months. Learn extra.

9. Researchers create programmable, autonomous robots smaller than a grain of rice

Researchers on the College of Pennsylvania and the College of Michigan have created what they claimed are the world’s smallest absolutely programmable robots. The robots are microscopic swimming machines that may independently sense and reply to their environment, function for months, and value only a penny every. Learn extra.

8. Digit humanoid joins Mercado Libre warehouse

Mercado Libre, a number one commerce and fintech ecosystem in Latin America, has signed an settlement to combine Agility Robotics’ Digit humanoid into its facility in San Antonio, Texas. Mercado Libre makes use of different kinds of warehouse robots at its amenities, however this seems to be its first foray into humanoids. Learn extra.

7. iRobot to enter Chapter 11 and be acquired by Chinese language creditor

As anticipated, iRobot introduced that it has entered right into a restructuring assist settlement with its creditor Santrum Hong Kong Co. and first contract producer Shenzhen Picea Robotics Co. The Chinese language corporations plan to amass the robotic vacuum cleaner pioneer by means of a court-supervised chapter course of. Learn extra.

6. iREX 2025: From programmed to perceptive

The Worldwide Robotic Exhibition, or iREX 2025, set new data: 673 exhibitors and 156,110 guests — even with elements of the Tokyo Huge Sight exhibition floor underneath renovation. The temper on the December 2025 occasion was good, as market order consumption is recovering after two years of decline. What did I see there that I haven’t seen some place else earlier than? Learn extra.

5. Serve Robotics deployed supply robots throughout the U.S.

Serve Robotics mentioned it has deployed greater than 2,000 sidewalk supply robots within the U.S. The milestone was a part of the corporate’s 2025 targets. Because the begin of the 12 months, Serve has expanded its fleet twentyfold. It’s deploying its robots in key markets. Learn extra.

4. Melonee Sensible to guide KUKA’s new software program and AI group

Robotics business veteran Melonee Sensible has taken a brand new place at KUKA. She is now the chief product officer for industrial automation supplier’s new software program and synthetic intelligence group in Silicon Valley. Sensible beforehand labored at Fetch Robotics, Zebra Applied sciences, and Agility Robotics. Learn extra.

3. MIT researchers train a robotic to construct furnishings by simply asking

Researchers on the Massachusetts Institute of Expertise introduced in Decmeber 2025 that they’ve developed a “speech-to-reality” system. This AI-driven workflow permits the MIT crew to supply enter to a robotic arm and “converse objects into existence,” creating issues like furnishings in as little as 5 minutes. Learn extra.

2. Zebra winds down Fetch-based cellular robotic group

Zebra Applied sciences is winding down its autonomous cellular robotic (AMR) division. The group was constructed round Zebra’s $290 million acquisition of AMR maker Fetch Robotics in 2021. The transfer marks a strategic retreat from the robotics push that Zebra launched to develop its warehouse automation capabilities. Learn extra.

1. iRobot debt acquired by contract producer in December 2025

The fortunes of one of many few family names in robotics continued to sink. In a submitting with the SEC early final month, iRobot mentioned {that a} Chinese language firm had acquired its debt and that it was searching for alternate options to chapter. Learn extra.