Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe launches humanoid robot startup Mind Robotics with over $1 billion in funding

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Thursday that Tesla cut the memory specifications on its next-generation Optimus robot chips to scale production, after Micron Technology CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said humanoid robots could require hundreds of gigabytes of memory and storage each. In a post on X, Musk said Tesla cut the AI5 chip's memory in half to 72GB and the AI6 chip's memory by a third to 144GB, calling it the only way to get enough volume for Optimus production and saying it greatly reduces cost. He added that the cuts should have a negligible effect on Optimus performance, as memory bandwidth is a bigger limiting factor than total memory capacity. On Micron's fiscal fourth-quarter earnings call on Wednesday, Mehrotra said humanoid robots are expected to need more than 200 gigabytes of memory and multiple terabytes of storage per unit, similar to autonomous vehicles, and that physical AI could become a significant driver of memory and storage demand by the end of the decade. Tesla has reportedly placed its first large-scale component order for roughly 5,000 Optimus units and is auditing Chinese suppliers ahead of production, with the company aiming to eventually build 1 million Optimus units a year.

Zhenyu Technology, a listed company with a market value of 20 billion yuan, announced that Vice General Manager and Board Secretary Peng Yongquan has applied to resign from both roles for personal reasons and will no longer hold any position at the company. As of the announcement date, Peng Yongquan directly holds 98,000 shares, accounting for 0.04% of the company's total share capital. He also holds 98,000 unvested Class II restricted shares granted under the company's 2024 restricted stock incentive plan, also representing 0.04% of total share capital, which will be handled in accordance with company regulations. Notably, Peng Yongquan served as Vice General Manager and Board Secretary at Zhenyu Technology for less than two years. Zhenyu Technology is actively positioning itself in future sectors with two new growth curves. First, in humanoid robots, it plans to build a production base in Thailand with total investment not exceeding 120 million US dollars and annual capacity of 15 million units to meet overseas customer delivery demand. Second, it is extending its precision machining capabilities into satellite manufacturing by establishing a joint venture with Guoxing Aerospace, a leading domestic satellite company. Currently, Zhenyu Technology's market value is approximately 22.6 billion yuan. Until a new Board Secretary is formally appointed, Chairman Jiang Zhenlin will assume the duties of Board Secretary.

BTIG analyst Jesse Sobelson said the humanoid robot industry has split into two largely separate product classes, with half-size systems, mostly Chinese, measuring roughly 94–138 cm and weighing 12–40 kg, and full-size machines generally standing 165–190 cm tall and weighing 47–90 kg. BTIG estimates that major players Unitree and AgiBot had built approximately 31K humanoids through June, of which only about 9.8K, or 32%, were full-size units of any type, and full-size bipeds represented only about 13% of cumulative production. Sobelson warned that industry shipment figures can be misleading if interpreted as evidence of broad adoption of human-scale robotic labor, since many of the estimated +40K cumulative shipments through mid-2026 were smaller, lower-cost Chinese units rather than industrial-grade humanoid bipeds. Hangzhou-based Unitree's smaller R1 and G1 products are priced approximately from $4,900 to $21,500 depending on configuration, and BTIG expects Unitree's 2026 shipments to at least double from around 6,000 in 2025, while the company plans for an annual capacity of 30K units. Tesla is the major potential challenger to the current half-size dominance, with BTIG saying Tesla anticipated Optimus production at Fremont later in 2026 but warned that initial output would be slow because the new line includes about 10K unique parts; Sobelson views Tesla, along with Figure, 1X, and Boston Dynamics, as the key players if there is to be a future shift toward full-size systems.