The San Francisco Bay Space is a nexus of AI and robotics. Supply: Adobe Inventory
The San Francisco Bay Space is the nexus of the substitute intelligence revolution within the U.S., anchored by San Francisco, with the renaissance of robotics funding and innovation in Silicon Valley. AI is merging with and embodied by robotics right here.
As an example, Waymo’s driverless automobiles are a typical sight in San Francisco. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang mentioned the way forward for AI is bodily AI, embodied by robotics together with self-driving automobiles.
Lately, The New York Instances recommended the potential of a robotic “winter,” particularly for humanoid robots.
Nonetheless, within the Dec. 10 Public Relation Society of America (PRSA) annual Silicon Valley Media Predicts of the 2025 know-how business and market, Don Clark of the Instances talked about that newspaper has by no means discovered a know-how it may’t discover the darkish aspect of. He famous that The New York Instances‘ first point out of synthetic intelligence, relationship again to round 1953, warned that robots would possibly sometime pose a risk to humanity.
Effectively, we’re alive and effectively—busily growing humanoid robots and embedding superior AI chips into flying drones, self-driving automobiles, and different autonomous methods.
Media analysts affirm the arrival of the age AI
The PRSA occasion featured a distinguished panel, together with:
- Dion Lim of ABC7 Bay Space
- Jon Swartz, beforehand with Market Watch and USA As we speak and now with Techstrong.ai
- Rosalie Chan of Enterprise Insider, whose work earlier appeared in TIME, The Chicago Report, and many others.
- Don Clark of New York Instances, beforehand with The Wall Avenue Journal.
Lim mentioned autonomous automobiles, highlighting the success of Waymo, its partnership with Uber, and its growth in San Francisco and past to Los Angeles, Phoenix, Austin, Chicago, Atlanta, and now Tokyo. Though Worldwide Federation of Robotics (IFR) doesn’t categorize autonomous automobiles as robotics; they’re no much less an embodiment of AI than humanoid developer Determine AI.
The panel additionally delved into AI brokers and their functions. Swartz has written extensively about AI. He talked about AI “tremendous brokers,” the place one agent studies to a different. Swartz noticed that advances in AI brokers is probably not as fast as desired, however their trajectory stays promising.
From left: moderator Becca Chambers, Dion Lim of ABC7 Bay Space, Jon Swartz of Techstrong.ai, New York Instances contributor Don Clark, and Rosalie Chan of Enterprise Insider. Supply: Michelle Mclntyre
Market and humanoid prospects are nonetheless vibrant
Chan commented on the quiet IPO market of the previous yr. She predicted a rebound in 2026. Whereas others have speculated about 2025 as a turning level, the AI and robotics sectors stay vibrant regardless of a considerably subdued public providing market in 2025.
Following the Media Predict occasion was the Humanoid Summit on the Pc Historical past Museum in Mountain View, Calif. Aaron Prather, who spoke on the occasion, later posted concerning the notion of “intentional stance” for AI robotics.
Prather, who’s
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Human capital clusters in Silicon Valley and elsewhere
This results in the significance of human capital, important to the fast development of cellular robots, drones, and autonomous automobiles. Determine AI CEO Brett Adcock, who raised $675 million for the AI robotics startup, lately posted that he’s “hiring like loopy.”
Monetary capital chases after human capital. The Bay Space’s prime universities gas San Francisco and Silicon Valley’s development by coaching engineers and technicians who sort out challenges comparable to bipedal dynamic, management, and deep studying.
Robotics professionals from the San Francisco Bay Space, in addition to Japan, India, and Switzerland, now embody skilled designers from main firms, professors, and business executives. They’re now engaged on coaching and schooling, not solely from content material in a information graph ontology sense, but additionally the epistemology in pedagogy sense.
Along with idea and understanding, this numerous group is making actual progress. For instance, they’re growing {hardware} platforms in order that college students can be taught the fundamentals of upper-body versus lower-body dynamics. Different necessary matters embody handbook and robotic dexterity, plus levels of freedom of the neck and hip, all in opposition to the fast-changing backdrop of AI.
The AI business continues to develop
NVIDIA final week introduced a major discount within the worth of its Orin Nano AI chipset. It halved the fee whereas rising efficiency 1.7x to 67 TOPS (trillion operations per second). In keeping with Huang, this chipset can help each general-purpose AI and agentic AI, enabling edge intelligence.
Agentic AI humanoid robots—reasoning cellular robots with anthropomorphic varieties—are edging nearer to actuality. These robots would possibly sometime retrieve all recognized information, motive over very long time horizons, and bodily reply with agility. May this be Information of Star Trek: The Subsequent Era? No marvel Starfleet’s headquarters are in San Francisco.
Concerning the creator
Albert Hu, Ph.D., is president and director of schooling at SuperTech FT, a San Francisco-based nonprofit devoted to offering STEM (science, know-how, engineering, and arithmetic), robotics, and AI schooling. The corporate mentioned it delivers “agile upskilling for an agile workforce.”
Particular due to public relations marketing consultant Michelle Mclntyre for her LinkedIn publish, which was useful in recording the details of the Media Predict occasion.