Physical AI's Multi-Billion Dollar March
Drones dominate, AVs rev up, Curbivore returns
While robots and AVs of all types were busy taking off this past month, drones in particular have had stratospheric success as of late. We’ve got all the latest from Zipline, Wing and Manna below, but be sure to dig in to our exclusive interview with Matternet CEO Andreas Raptopoulos.
Our annual conference — Curbivore — returns to Downtown LA on April 16th and 17th. We’re bringing together fantastic leaders from across robotics, autonomy, delivery, mobility, policy and technology: speakers include execs from DoorDash, Zoox, Uber Eats, Sweetgreen, Serve Robotics, Instacart, Starship Technologies, Nexar, TaskUS, Robotis and key regulators like the CPUC and LADOT, as well as investors and media.
Exhibitors and attendees include Autec, CloudKitchens, Hyphen, Fast Company, Sweetfin, The Verge, Kitchen Fund, NYC Hospitality Alliance, Stellar Pizza, Wonder, Erewhon, Upfront Ventures, Grubhub, Compass Group, Business Insider and many more.
Ottomate Pro subscribers can attend for free, while all other folks can score 25% off with code Otto25.
Delivery Robotics, Drones & AVs
Waymo had a rough optics cycle: one robotaxi blocked EMS during an Austin mass shooting response, while the NTSB is now officially investigating a vehicle passing a stopped school bus due to remote operator error.
And yet scale keeps climbing. Waymo ridership is spiking, Zoox is expanding to Austin and Miami, and Uber is hedging with both Zoox and Wayve/Nissan.
Policy is moving in both directions. The Feds are exploring fully driverless vehicles without controls, Virginia is targeting 2028 deployments, while California is tightening scrutiny over remote operators.
Tesla’s autonomy stack looks more hybrid than advertised, with reports of remote human intervention in robotaxis and broader safety concerns resurfacing from AV experts.
On delivery, DoorDash is launching Dot in the Bay Area ‘burb of Fremont, while Coco is improving localization through Niantic Spatial. Avride robots are now showing up near Philly too (good luck!)
Serve Robotics continues scaling, launching White Castle delivery and reporting thousands of robots in-market — though collisions with bus shelters show the edge cases are still very real.
Drones keep stacking momentum. Wing is expanding into the SF Bay Area, Manna raised $50 million, and Zipline pulled in another $200M.
Grubhub is also finally leaning into drones, teaming up with Dexa in New Jersey.
WeRide keeps expanding globally, launching in Slovakia and Singapore with Grab.
Humanoids
China’s physical AI push is starting to look industrial. Time argues China is pulling ahead, while Unitree filed for a $610M IPO after scaling shipments and improving margins.
Amazon is reportedly acquiring humanoid developer Fauna Robotics, right after gobbling up RIVR.
Meanwhile, OpenAI’s robotics lead resigned over Pentagon-related concerns, a reminder that embodied AI quickly runs into governance questions.
Back of House Automation
Simbe’s Tally became the first retail robot to achieve UL 3300 certification, removing a key blocker for broader in-store deployment.
Instacart is pushing a “physical AI” retail stack built around Caper Carts and data integration, turning stores into sensor networks as much as storefronts.
Catch Instacart’s Head of Product John Adams at Curbivore 2026!
Kiosks, Retail & Self-Checkout
Costco has been using self-checkout machines since 2013, but the retail giant is now reportedly phasing them out, to be replaced with a “Scan and Go” experience.
Industry Trends
Rivian spinout Mind Robotics raises $500M.
Startup unicorns are back on the rise, pushed up by massive rounds for physical AI and robotics startups like BedRock Robotics and Spirit AI.
In Other News
Momenta files for IPO. VeryAI raises $10M for palm-based ID verification. Lucid Motors shows off Lunar robotaxi. Meet the people strapping cameras to their heads to train robots. Travis Kalanick launches Atoms. Ottobot heads to Australian mine town. DoorDash invests into Also. Starship launches at Florida Polytechnic University. China cracks down on drones. Avride hits 4,600 orders at Salisbury University. Glendale, CA calls for moratorium on delivery robots.