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by John Koetsier
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- 5 days ago17 min
100,000 robotaxi rides from the company you've never heard of
Waymo and Tesla get the headlines. But Avride has quietly completed more than 100,000 commercial autonomous rides through Uber in Dallas, driven over 2 million autonomous miles, and built a fleet of more than 200 vehicles.So why haven't you heard more about it?In this episode of NEXT with John Koetsier, I talk with Avride chief commercial officer Sergei Kirillov about what it takes to build a robotaxi business, why the economics don't work until safety drivers disappear, and how autonomous transportation could reshape a trillion-dollar mobility market.We discuss:- 100,000+ commercial robotaxi rides and 92% positive rider feedback- 2 million autonomous miles and a fleet of 200+ vehicles- Why passenger pickup and drop-off are surprisingly difficult- Avride's plans for fully driverless operations in 2027- The economics of robotaxis versus human-driven ride-hailing- Expansion plans across 10 potential new markets- Autonomous delivery robots operating in 30+ markets- Why Hyundai's IONIQ 5 is Avride's current platform- Whether robotaxis will reduce car ownership and transportation costsPlus: Why Avride believes there's room for multiple winners in a mobility market worth more than $1 trillion.Subscribe for more conversations about AI, robotics, autonomous vehicles, and the technologies transforming our world.00:00 The trillion-dollar robotaxi opportunity00:20 Meet Avride: 100,000 autonomous rides01:00 What Avride has learned from real passengers03:00 Robotaxi safety and accident rates04:20 200 vehicles and 2 million autonomous miles05:20 Why pickups and drop-offs are so difficult06:15 Where Avride plans to expand next07:00 Delivery robots and the future of autonomous delivery09:00 Do competing robotaxi fleets need to communicate?10:00 When will Avride remove safety drivers?11:00 Why robotaxi economics don't work with drivers12:00 Regulatory challenges and expansion12:30 Why Avride uses the Hyundai IONIQ 513:15 The future of autonomous vehicle design14:30 Do robotaxis need steering wheels?15:15 Will robotaxis replace personal car ownership?16:30 How big will autonomous ride-hailing get?#Robotaxi #AutonomousVehicles #Avride #Waymo #Tesla #SelfDrivingCars
- 2 weeks ago14 min
Biggest robot security deal ever?
Robot guard dogs are moving from experiments to serious business. Asylon Robotics has signed a $17 million, five-year deal with security giant Securitas to deploy autonomous robot dogs and aerial drones at critical infrastructure facilities.As far as I can tell, this could be the biggest robot security deal ever.In this episode of NEXT, I chat with Asylon CEO Damon Henry about the big deal, why autonomous security robots are finally proving their value, and what the future of security looks like for mission-critical and national security facilities.Asylon already has more than 50 robots deployed across the US, using Boston Dynamics Spot quadrupeds, autonomous aerial drones that they make themselves, custom security hardware, and a 24/7 robotic security operations center.We discuss:- How Asylon's $17M Securitas deal came together- How robot dogs and aerial drones work together to secure facilities- Why customers are seeing reductions in crime and vandalism- How autonomous robots work alongside human security guards- Why Asylon builds some hardware and buys other components- The potential for humanoid robots in security and inspection- What large-scale deployments mean for the ROI of roboticsDamon also shares real-world results from customer deployments, including Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, where robot patrols have helped protect human guards while improving security outcomes.#Robotics #RobotDogs #PhysicalAI #AutonomousRobots #SecurityRobots #BostonDynamics #Asylon00:00 Robot security lands a $17M deal00:27 Asylon's deal with Securitas01:00 How the autonomous security system works02:45 Securing critical infrastructure03:25 The growing threat to physical security04:20 How robot dogs and drones work together05:55 Real-world crime reduction results06:25 Building vs. buying robot hardware07:15 Autonomous charging and battery swapping07:50 Cybersecurity and military compliance08:40 Could humanoids join security patrols?10:40 How robots work with human guards11:40 Mercedes-Benz Stadium deployment12:35 Why robots improve with experience13:10 What the $17M deal proves
- Oct 5, 202628 min
1,000 humanoid robots. 1 factory.
What does it actually take to put 1,000 humanoid robots to work?Hexagon Robotics President Arnaud Robert joins me to explain how the company is moving its Aeon humanoid from pilots and demonstrations into real industrial production, including a plan with Schaeffler that could eventually scale to 1,000 robots.And the big lesson is that scaling humanoids isn't about taking one robot doing one task and multiplying it by 1,000.It's about building a multipurpose fleet that can move between jobs as demand changes across a factory.We talk about:• Why humanoids need to be multipurpose to justify themselves • How Aeon gathers training data while doing real work • Hexagon's “sim-to-real-to-sim” training loop • Why customer-specific factory data matters • The difference between a successful pilot and a production-ready robot • The two metrics Hexagon cares about most: cycle time and human intervention • What Hexagon learned from early sensor-fusion and actuator challenges • Why Aeon uses wheels instead of legs — and can still climb stairs • How humanoids could eliminate bottlenecks instead of simply replacing workers • Schaeffler's “robot gym” and the train-deploy-scale path to 1,000 humanoidsRobert's view of the factory of the future isn't a lights-out facility with no people. It's a highly autonomous factory where humans and robots work together — with robots handling repetitive tasks and shifting between bottlenecks while skilled workers focus on problem-solving.This is what humanoid robotics looks like when the conversation moves beyond prototypes and into production.00:00 What does it take to deploy 1,000 humanoids?01:31 Why 1,000 robots changes the problem03:02 Why humanoids need to do multiple jobs03:55 The race for physical AI training data04:51 Simulation, synthetic and real-world data06:20 Hexagon's sim-to-real-to-sim loop08:10 What robot-generated training data captures10:21 Pilot vs. production-ready humanoids12:14 The industrial experience advantage13:12 The two metrics that really matter15:39 What Hexagon learned from failure17:35 The humanoid actuator problem18:47 Why Aeon uses wheels instead of legs19:59 Yes, a wheeled humanoid can climb stairs21:28 What the factory of the future looks like23:42 Using humanoids to eliminate bottlenecks25:17 Automation exposes the hidden 3%26:07 Schaeffler's path to 1,000 humanoids27:18 Train, deploy, scale
- Sep 23, 202629 min
He runs 100s of AI agents ... here’s how
What does it actually look like to work with hundreds of AI agents?In this episode of NEXT with John Koetsier, I chat with Steve Ancheta, founder and CEO of Zig.ai, an AI-native platform for relationship-driven sales.Steve explains why what looks like a single AI agent to a user can actually be a swarm of hundreds of specialized agents working behind the scenes, handling copywriting, follow-ups, CRM updates, next-best actions, orchestration, and more.We also dig into how Steve personally uses AI agents as force multipliers across his work, why he still writes important investor and customer messages himself, and why simply giving an agent access to documents isn’t enough. Steve shares his approach to building an effective agent harness, including two critical pieces many people overlook: governance and grounded truth.We also discuss OpenClaw, NanoClaw, cloud-based agents, agent security, human-in-the-loop workflows, critical thinking, AI productivity, and the shift from reactive agents that wait for instructions to proactive agents that start doing useful work on their own.Topics include:- Why Steve believes many beginners shouldn’t build agents yet- How hundreds of specialized agents can operate as one system- AI agents as force multipliers rather than human replacements- Why human taste and connection become more important as AI improves- How Steve uses agents for planning, operations, scheduling, and analysis- The dangers of AI-generated documents nobody actually reads- Agent governance, guardrails, and permissions- Giving agents a reliable source of truth- Why vector databases alone aren’t a magic solution- Balancing human interaction with AI-assisted work- The move from reactive AI agents to proactive AI agents- Why humans should remain in the loop for external actionsGuest: Steve AnchetaCompany: Zig.ai00:00 Why beginners may not be ready for AI agents00:24 Working with AI agents every day01:34 Steve Ancheta’s journey into AI03:00 The early days of agent workflows04:36 OpenClaw, Hermes, and the agent boom05:37 The security problem with early AI agents06:00 Why Steve moved agents to the cloud07:00 Local agents vs. cloud-based agents08:00 How quickly agent technology is evolving09:00 How Zig.ai uses hundreds of AI agents10:00 Why one “agent” may actually be an entire swarm11:00 Specialized agents and orchestration11:30 What Steve personally uses AI agents for12:00 Why he still writes important emails himself13:00 AI agents as force multipliers14:00 Why AI won’t eliminate the human element15:00 Human connection and taste matter more than ever15:50 Steve’s favorite uses for AI agents16:00 The danger of AI-generated documents17:15 Agents for planning, operations, and forecasting18:00 Using agents to find problems across a company18:40 AI as a chief of staff19:25 Why beginners probably shouldn’t build agents yet20:00 What an agent harness actually does21:00 Zig.ai is fundamentally a data company22:00 Giving AI agents a reliable source of truth23:00 Governance, guardrails, and agent permissions24:00 Why vector databases aren’t enough24:35 How AI agents change the way we work25:20 Balancing AI time with human interaction26:00 Why Steve deliberately spends time away from technology27:00 The next phase: proactive AI agents28:00 Keeping humans in the loop29:00 When AI agents start giving us tasks
- Sep 10, 202628 min
2035 Homes: 1 Humanoid Robot or 10 Specialized Robots?
What will the home of 2035 actually look like: One humanoid robot that does everything, or 10 specialized robots, each handling one specific task extremely well?In this episode of NEXT with John Koetsier, I talk with Amber Atherton, serial entrepreneur and investor at Patron, about a very different vision for the future of home robotics.Instead of assuming that every household will eventually have a general-purpose humanoid assistant, Amber argues that consumer robotics may scale first through highly specialized devices that quietly take over specific routines and chores.Think skincare. Hair. Gardening. Cleaning. Wardrobe management. Kitchen tasks. Pet care.In other words, the future home may be full of robots without looking like it’s full of robots.We discuss why Roomba is still such an important example of successful consumer robotics, why specialization often wins in consumer markets, what people may actually be willing to pay for useful home robots, and how falling hardware costs plus better AI models could create a new wave of robotics startups.We also get into the bigger platform question: if homes eventually contain dozens of physically intelligent devices, who owns the operating system underneath them?Google DeepMind? NVIDIA? A new robotics platform? Or an ecosystem we haven’t seen yet?And, of course, we debate whether humanoids ultimately win anyway.This episode is cross-posted from my Humanoid Daily podcast, where I cover the companies, technologies, investments, and ideas shaping the humanoid robotics boom.Topics include:• Humanoid robots vs. specialized robots • What home robotics could look like by 2035 • Robots for hair, skincare, gardening, and household chores • Why Roomba remains such an important robotics success story • Consumer robotics business models • Pricing home robots • AI foundation models and physical AI • Robotics manufacturing and supply chains • Robot training data • The future operating system for physical AI • Google DeepMind, NVIDIA, 1X, Figure, and Apptronik • Whether the future home needs a humanoid at allNEXT with John Koetsier explores what’s coming next in technology, business, AI, robotics, and the future of the world around us.
- Aug 28, 202619 min
Quantum computing + AI + agents = AGI?
What happens when you combine frontier AI, agentic systems, and quantum computing?In this episode of NEXT with John Koetsier, we chat with Mykola Maksymenko, co-founder and CTO of Haiqu, about how AI agents are dramatically accelerating quantum research and potentially scientific discovery as a whole.Maksymenko shares how an AI system was able to reconstruct months of his own PhD research in a fraction of the time, even identifying a bug in one of his formulas. He also discusses experiments involving genomics, molecular simulation, quantum chemistry, and condensed matter physics.The bigger question: do we really need to wait for fault-tolerant quantum computers with hundreds or thousands of logical qubits before quantum computing becomes useful?Maksymenko argues that useful quantum applications are already emerging today, particularly when AI agents help scientists discover algorithms, orchestrate workflows, and handle the complexity of working with noisy quantum hardware.We also explore the risks of increasingly capable AI systems, scientific guardrails, quantum utility versus quantum supremacy, and what happens when researchers can test ideas in a weekend that previously might have required months or years.Topics include:• Agentic AI for scientific research• Quantum utility vs. quantum supremacy• AI-assisted genomics• Quantum chemistry and molecular dynamics• Automating quantum software workflows• AI as a scientific collaborator and educator• The risks and guardrails of frontier AI• Why scientific discovery could accelerate dramatically00:00 — “I think AGI is here” 00:40 — Meet Mykola Maksymenko 01:01 — Why a quantum physicist started experimenting with genomics 02:18 — Reproducing years of research with AI and quantum computing 03:07 — The convergence of AI, agents, and quantum computers 04:26 — Are we entering the singularity? 04:45 — AI reconstructs six months of PhD research 05:28 — The risks of AI-assisted genomics and scientific discovery 06:46 — Pandora’s box and the race for frontier AI 07:02 — What researchers are doing with the technology now 08:29 — Can quantum computers already do useful work? 09:21 — From quantum supremacy to quantum utility 11:06 — Molecular dynamics and quantum chemistry 12:12 — The minimum viable product of quantum computing 13:00 — Why Haiku moved deeper into agentic AI 13:30 — How much faster can AI make scientific research? 15:47 — AI as a scientist’s educator and collaborator 16:51 — Running research experiments over a weekend 17:16 — What happens next for AI + quantum computing 17:38 — How AI agents operate quantum computers 18:59 — Closing thoughts
- Aug 13, 202635 min
AI can now edit DNA and create deepfake viruses
AI is moving beyond text, images, and code. Now it’s learning to read and write -- shall we say program -- DNA.In this episode of NEXT, John Koetsier talks with Eric Nguyen, co-founder and CEO of Radical Numerics, about the rapidly emerging world of biological AI.Nguyen and his team helped create Evo and Evo 2, generative foundation models for DNA, and are now working toward what they call “general biological intelligence”: AI systems capable of understanding biology across DNA, gene expression, methylation, proteins, and other biological signals.The potential upside is enormous. These systems could help scientists detect cancer earlier, develop treatments for antibiotic-resistant superbugs, understand disease more deeply, and eventually design countermeasures to emerging biological threats on demand.But the same capabilities introduce serious risks.Nguyen explains how AI could potentially generate biological sequences that retain dangerous functions while evading traditional sequence-matching detection systems ... essentially creating biological “deepfakes.” He also discusses why AI labs need to develop biodefense capabilities alongside increasingly powerful biological design tools.The conversation covers DNA foundation models, AI-generated viruses, biosecurity, pathogen detection, wastewater surveillance, attribution of biological threats, antimicrobial resistance, cancer detection, open-source versus closed-source biological AI, and why biology may be the next major frontier for artificial intelligence.00:00 AI-designed DNA and “deepfake” viruses00:21 AI is moving into biology00:55 Meet Eric Nguyen of Radical Numerics01:20 Why DNA is a language01:39 Teaching AI to read and write DNA02:54 What happens when AI can create biological systems?03:15 The promise and risks of programmable DNA04:32 The medical upside of AI-driven biology04:58 Moving beyond single-molecule drug discovery06:30 Can AI model the complexity of the human body?06:59 Biology has more data than we know how to use08:38 Where all the DNA data comes from09:12 The dangerous side of AI-generated biology10:01 What is a “deepfake virus”?12:41 Could AI make pathogens more dangerous?14:36 Putting AI biodefense on the front lines16:56 The three pillars of biodefense18:22 On-demand treatments for new diseases19:11 How close is this future?21:53 Why biodefense capabilities are falling behind24:36 Should powerful DNA models be open source?25:40 How Evo and Evo 2 were made safer26:49 Why Radical Numerics is keeping Omni closed27:55 AI-generated bacteriophages and superbugs29:23 Balancing breakthrough biology with biosecurity30:53 Using AI to detect cancer earlier32:08 Why cancer detection needs multiple biological signals33:49 “Sensor fusion” for biology34:24 Why a holistic view of medicine matters
- Jul 30, 202635 min
Do we really need 400 humanoid robot companies?
Why aren’t hundreds of millions of intelligent robots already operating in the physical world?In this episode of NEXT with John Koetsier, John speaks with Seth Winterroth, partner at Eclipse, about the rapidly changing robotics investment landscape, the rise of physical AI, and the race to build the next generation of autonomous machines.They explore whether the world really needs hundreds of humanoid robotics companies, why timing matters as much as technology, and why some robotics startups may need to build the entire stack ... from hardware and embedded software to AI models, evaluation systems, and deployment infrastructure.The conversation also covers Genesis AI, Wayve, Project Prometheus, Apptronik, Figure, 1X, autonomous vehicles, delivery drones, industrial automation, surgical robotics, and the future of robots in the home.Topics include:• Why robots still aren’t widely deployed • The five forces driving robotics investment • Whether 400 humanoid robotics companies are too many • Full-stack versus platform-based robotics strategies • The challenge of achieving reliability and safety • When useful home robots may finally arrive • Why autonomous vehicles are already robots • The industries likely to adopt robotics first • The future of manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and surgery • What the next major robotics inflection point could be Seth Winterroth is a partner at Eclipse, an investment firm focused on companies transforming physical industries. Eclipse has backed robotics and automation companies including Genesis AI, Wayve, MiND Robotics, Foxglove, and Third Wave Automation.Subscribe to NEXT for more conversations about AI, robotics, emerging technology, and the companies shaping the future.00:00 Why aren’t robots everywhere yet?00:37 Introducing Seth Winterroth01:03 The robotics investment landscape02:00 Seth’s background in applied robotics03:01 The five forces accelerating robotics04:04 Are there too many humanoid robot companies?05:00 Creative destruction in robotics06:02 How investors pick the winners06:38 Why robotics companies need velocity07:00 The danger of being too early or too late07:51 How Wayve benefited from entering later08:36 Project Prometheus and the $10 billion seed round09:05 Why Genesis AI is building full stack10:01 Full-stack robotics versus foundation-model platforms11:03 The dirty secret: Where are all the robots?12:03 Reliability, safety, and deployment friction12:39 The challenge of vertical integration14:02 What robotics companies should build themselves15:03 Capital requirements and the robotics J-curve16:01 How robotics companies can scale rapidly16:39 When humanoid robots may reach the market17:04 Figure, 1X NEO, Unitree, and AgiBot18:24 A broader definition of robotics19:04 Are cameras and dishwashers robots?19:39 Autonomous vehicles as embodied AI20:23 Why transportation autonomy could be transformational21:05 Why humanoids still have a long way to go21:44 One general-purpose robot or many specialized machines?22:35 What will make home robots successful?23:39 Finding the minimum viable home robot24:20 Physical and digital products25:04 Why the App Store model matters for robotics26:05 How robots will gain new capabilities over time26:35 The brutal economics of consumer robotics27:12 Consumers buy outcomes, not robots27:48 Robotics beyond humanoids28:18 Kiva Systems and the modern robotics era29:05 Why constrained environments win first30:02 Robotics in automotive manufacturing and logistics31:02 Eclipse’s robotics portfolio31:31 When robots will begin walking among us32:03 The next major robotics inflection point32:42 Escaping the trough of disillusionment33:29 Why autonomous transportation is nearly solved34:04 How self-driving changes cities and society34:36 The future of robotic surgery35:01 Delivery drones and regulatory barriers35:39 Closing thoughts
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