Techin' Geek

Agility Robotics is launching a 60,000-square-foot facility dedicated to the training of its humanoid robots in Fremont, California, located not far from the Tesla factory where manufacturing of the Optimus robots is anticipated to commence this year.

Tesla has increasingly invested in Optimus. Elon Musk recently indicated that he anticipates it to become “the largest product ever” once it’s “useful outside of Tesla sometime next year.”

Although Agility may not possess Tesla’s financial resources, it has the working robot, Digit, which is already proving beneficial in various real-world applications. This robot is currently generating income by handling totes and bins in manufacturing and warehouse operations for clients such as Amazon, GXO, Schaeffler, and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada. The organization claims it has obtained $300 million in contract orders for its robots.

“Having [Tesla] in proximity to us is fantastic because Agility was initially out there alone, and it’s beneficial to have others in the humanoid sector,” CEO Peggy Johnson shared with TechCrunch. “We have commercialized. We now understand what it takes to integrate into these facilities and satisfy their safety, regulatory requirements, compliance, and IT infrastructure along with their warehouse management system.”

Agility has not shared the number of Digits it has constructed or deployed, but outside analysts estimate that several dozen have been active in pilot or profit-generating projects. For instance, the company has noted that Digits have facilitated the movement of 100,000 totes within a GXO logistics site.

Johnson is currently navigating Agility through a reverse merger that is expected to position it as the first pure-play humanoid robot firm on public markets by the end of this year. Established in 2015 by a team of researchers who developed innovative methods for enabling robots to walk on two legs safely, Agility aims to leverage its advantage over a newer wave of AI-driven robotics startups like Figure, 1X, the Bot Company, and Sunday Robotics.

While the introduction of transformer-based neural networks contributing to the emergence of LLMs is poised to bring significant advancements in robotic behavior, Agility is adopting a pragmatic stance toward autonomy.

“Considering self-driving cars as a non-humanoid example, you definitely wouldn’t want the anti-lock brake controller managed by AI,” Agility co-founder and chairman Damion Shelton remarked to TechCrunch. “For humanoids, all safety components must follow a path that isn’t reliant on generative AI, correct? Creativity should not be involved in your safety stack.”

Nevertheless, what AI does provide is the potential for scalability.

“One of the earliest occasions when [Bruce Leak, the Quicktime inventor who serves on Agility’s board] inquired how we would approach coding applications for the robot, we didn’t have a solid answer,” Shelton stated. “The array of tasks a robot can be envisioned to perform far exceeds the number of engineers capable of programming robots. Generative AI resolves that issue definitively.”

The new facility is intended to expedite the company’s robot deployments. Johnson mentions that over 30 customers are currently negotiating with the company about deploying Digit, and the new facility will serve as a training ground for the six-foot-tall robot to acquire new skills in environments similar to those it will encounter in the field.

In contrast to many of the newer players in the humanoid arena, Agility does not plan to introduce in-home humanoid robots in the near future. This perspective aligns with that of most independent robotics specialists, who believe the most powerful robots available today are not sufficiently safe for consumer use. Digit currently functions in areas devoid of humans, but version 5, expected to be announced this fall, will feature human-sensing capabilities and won’t have to operate in robot-only zones.

Co-founder and chief robot officer Jonathan Hurst expressed there is ample work to keep Agility engaged in manufacturing and logistics alone.

“Let’s initially focus on the bins and totes, and then we can tackle picking and kitting,” Hurst relayed to TechCrunch. “Subsequently, we can start addressing cardboard, which is quite challenging, along with loading and unloading tractor trailers and similar tasks. At that transition, we’ll be talking about 100 million robots, you know? A trillion-dollar enterprise.”

Following warnings from analysts about the impact of AI-driven demand for memory chips on consumer electronics, India is showcasing the most compelling evidence of this change, with increasing handset prices altering the smartphone landscape.

The memory chips involved — RAM and storage elements — are the exact components that technology giants require in huge quantities to construct AI data centers. Companies like Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron have been reallocating production capacity towards high-bandwidth memory, the specialized chips utilized in AI accelerators, as they yield significantly higher profits per wafer compared to the standard memory found in smartphones and laptops — resulting in reduced capacity and elevated costs for regular consumer electronics.

India, the second-largest smartphone market globally by shipments, following China, experienced a 10% decline in smartphone shipments year-over-year during the April-June quarter, as reported by market research firm Counterpoint Research, signaling the sharpest drop in June-quarter shipments in six years due to rising memory prices elevating handset costs.

The effect has been more severe in India compared to China, where smartphone shipments only decreased by 2% in Q2, according to Counterpoint. India’s market has been adversely affected as approximately 60% of its smartphone industry is centered in the sub-₹20,000 (under $210) range, where the rise in memory expenses has had a significant impact on prices, according to Tarun Pathak, the firm’s vice president of research, speaking to TechCrunch.

India has established itself as an essential market for international smartphone brands over the years. With a population exceeding 1.4 billion and more than 700 million smartphone users, the South Asian nation has emerged as a bellwether for consumer demand in price-sensitive regions, making shifts in purchasing behaviors carefully monitored by device manufacturers, chip suppliers, and investors observing the overall status of the AI supply chain.

Pathak informed TechCrunch that consumers are not expected to completely forsake smartphones. Nevertheless, many are anticipated to postpone upgrades, extending replacement cycles to about four years from the previous 3.5 years, while premium brands like Apple and Samsung remain more insulated from the downturn.

The inconsistent effects are already altering competitive dynamics among smartphone manufacturers. Samsung was the sole major smartphone brand to record shipment growth in India during Q2, experiencing a 2% year-over-year increase, according to Counterpoint. In contrast, Apple witnessed a 3% decline in shipments — although this drop was largely a result of supply issues and inventory shortages limiting iPhone deliveries.

Consumers opting for higher-end smartphones have shown to be less affected by price hikes, with financing options making expensive devices more attainable, according to Prachir Singh, a senior analyst at Counterpoint Research, who relayed this to TechCrunch.

The most significant pain has been felt at the bottom end of the market. Shipments within the sub-₹15,000 (under $150) category plummeted by 45% compared to a year earlier, according to Counterpoint. As Chinese brands are heavily reliant on entry-level and mid-range smartphones, their collective market share has dropped to its lowest in a second consecutive calendar quarter since 2020.

The challenging financial landscape is also triggering strategic changes. Recently, Chinese smartphone brand OnePlus announced it would cease new product launches in Europe and North America while continuing its operations in India, following what it described as a meticulous evaluation. Counterpoint data shared with TechCrunch revealed that China accounted for 74% of OnePlus’ global smartphone shipments to distributors and retailers in Q1, a rise from 59% a year prior, while India’s contribution decreased to 19% from 30%.

In essence, OnePlus is withdrawing to markets where it can still achieve profitability, relinquishing ground in other areas — a trend likely to be seen across additional budget-oriented brands as margins tighten.

Indeed, Pathak noted to TechCrunch that managing multiple sub-brands is only justifiable if each brand generates enough volume to cover shared expenses, and that equation becomes untenable as margins shrink. “Sub-brands typically overlap and share resources, and you require a minimum volume to validate the low margins. Profitability is the fundamental aspect guiding market operations,” he expressed.

Consumers feel the squeeze

The strain on brands is translating directly to consumers purchasing their devices. Kiranjeet Kaur, associate research director for mobile phones research at IDC, stated that the Indian smartphone market is evolving from volume-driven growth to value-driven growth — indicating a decrease in overall sales but with each unit generating increased revenue — as elevated component prices render lower-priced smartphones less viable.

The elevated costs for components are already being passed on to consumers. According to Pathak, smartphone prices in India have surged by 4% to 68%, depending on the model, and as prices increase, consumers are either opting for higher-priced models, delaying upgrades, or turning to the secondhand market.

Financing has become “essential for affordability,” Kaur informed TechCrunch. She further noted that brands and retailers are also building up their inventory ahead of the festive season to secure lower costs before further increases in component prices.

IDC additionally anticipates a double-digit decline in India’s smartphone shipments in Q2, a sharper drop than the 4.1% decline in the first quarter and the 5.3% drop in the preceding quarter, Kaur reported. However, she remarked that the firm’s estimates are not yet finalized.

Kaur mentioned to TechCrunch that memory shortages and high smartphone prices are likely to continue at least until the end of 2027, although the rate of price increases should slow as consumers gradually adjust to new, higher price standards.

“For Indian consumers, it’s a double-edged sword as the weak currency results in costlier imports, which adds to the pressure on margins for market players, with these costs being passed on to consumers,” Kaur concluded.

San Francisco has instructed Apple and Google to eliminate numerous “nudify” applications — software that can digitally manipulate images to undress individuals — from their app marketplaces.

California legislation criminalizes any acts that “knowingly facilitates” or “recklessly aids or abets” the production of non-consensual deepfake adult content. In 2025, California passed additional legislation allowing victims to initiate civil suits against third-party enablers of such content. The city asserts that, despite these established laws, both tech giants have persisted in hosting and profiting from these applications.

“Apple and Google are earning profits from applications that take advantage of women and girls by creating non-consensual intimate deepfakes,” stated San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu in a statement sent to TechCrunch. “While the companies have severed ties with certain problematic applications, Apple and Google are obligated to be proactive and vigilant in preventing sexual exploitation.”

Communications dispatched to Google and Apple by Chiu’s office, which were reviewed by TechCrunch, indicate that the companies have “been made aware” of their involvement in “processing payments for illegal transactions for nearly a year” yet have continued to do so.

The letters emphasize that both organizations have repeatedly been alerted to the presence of these applications. In January and again in April, the Tech Transparency Project released reports and sent correspondences to both entities emphasizing that there were “numerous applications” in their app stores that “offered deepfake NCII [non-consensual intimate images] in return for payments” processed by the companies.

TTP’s April report stated that Google and Apple had deliberately “directed” users towards such applications and referred to both companies as “critical players in the dissemination of AI tools that can convert real individuals into sexualized images.”

Furthermore, Chiu mentioned to Wired that both companies likely accrued “millions of dollars in fees” from applications that provided such functionalities.

Chiu’s office letters caution that Apple and Google might encounter civil penalties for breaching the law and demand that they respond to the city within 28 days.

TechCrunch contacted Apple and Google for their feedback.

Deepfake pornography has predominantly affected female public figures; however, nudify applications enable anyone with a publicly available image to be targeted.

Valar Atomics, a company focused on developing small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) — basically compact, factory-produced power plants meant to be more affordable and quicker to deploy than conventional reactors — is reportedly in discussions to gather a new round of funding, as per three insiders familiar with the matter. The three-year-old firm aims for a valuation of approximately $6 billion, with Sequoia anticipated to spearhead the investment, according to those sources.

The Information was the first to disclose the funding negotiations, noting that the El Segundo, California-based startup is working on raising a $1 billion equity round.

Part of this capital was obtained earlier at a lower valuation, the sources informed TechCrunch. Specifically, Valar has secured $450 million — comprised of $340 million in equity and $110 million in debt — at a valuation of $2 billion, as per a Bloomberg report from March.  

Deals arranged in multiple tranches at various valuations, sometimes executed at different intervals, are becoming increasingly prevalent in today’s AI-driven fundraising landscape. Such arrangements can create a false impression that the capital was injected at a singular, uniform valuation. In reality, investors within the same round may end up paying disparate prices for the same entity — a differentiation that is particularly relevant as outsiders attempt to benchmark rapidly growing startups against one another.

Sequoia and Valar Atomics opted not to comment.

Earlier this month, the company demonstrated that its nuclear reactor delivered a small power output to an Nvidia AI chip.   In conjunction with that proof-of-concept display, Valar and Nvidia announced a partnership to investigate using nuclear energy to power future AI data centers.

Valar’s growth is unfolding amidst a wider demand challenge. The electricity requirements for data centers are anticipated to surge dramatically in the coming years, and utility companies in many areas are several years away from providing sufficient new capacity. This gap has positioned nuclear energy — historically hindered by budget overruns and regulatory delays — as an area of heightened interest within the AI infrastructure expansion.

Valar’s investors include Palmer Luckey, the founder of Anduril, and Shyam Sankar, chief technology officer of Palantir. Other players pursuing this opportunity are Kairos Power and TerraPower (supported by Bill Gates), which are developing next-gen reactors targeting technology and industrial clients, as well as NuScale Power, the sole SMR developer possessing U.S. regulatory design approval. (Last year, it received approval for an upgraded, higher-capacity reactor model.)

Valar’s technology relies on a helium-cooled, high-temperature gas reactor. The company states it ultimately intends to construct hundreds of SMRs for data center operations. However, while SMRs are theoretically cheaper to produce than traditional reactors, the technology remains in its infancy, and it’s unclear how long deployment at an industrial scale will actually take.

In a bold move, Valar has adopted a confrontational legal approach toward its regulatory body. Last year, it joined forces with several states and competing startups to sue the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, contending that the agency incorrectly applies the same lengthy licensing procedure for small test reactors that it employs for full-sized commercial facilities. (The case has remained unresolved, with both parties frequently pausing litigation, suggesting that some form of settlement may be forthcoming.)

The company was established by Isaiah Taylor, who left high school at 16. Now 27, he has stated he founded two startups prior to Valar and proudly mentioned that his great-grandfather was a nuclear physicist on the Manhattan Project.