Russia’s first AI humanoid robot collapsed on stage seconds after making its debut at a technology event in Moscow. The Video showed the robot, Aldol, staggering onto the stage to the soundtrack of Gonna Fly Now from the film "Rocky" during a showcase of Russia’s emerging robotics sector on Tuesday (11 November).

But as the humanoid lifted its hand to wave at the crowd, it lost balance and fell to the ground, shattering into pieces. Developers were seen hastily trying to pick the robot back up before giving up and trying to cover it with a black cloth. But this ended up being tangled up with the robot, which was moving erratically on the ground.

The robot, presented by the Russian robotics firm Idol, was being shown at a forum of the New Technology Coalition in Moscow, an association of companies for the development of humanoid robots, including Promobot, Double U Expo, Idol and Robot Corporation.

The exhibit aimed to demonstrate Russia’s progress in artificial intelligence and anthropomorphic robotics as the country positions itself in the global race for next-generation humanoid machines.

Developers had hailed the robot’s ability to fulfil three human functions, including moving on its legs, manipulating objects and communicating with people. But instead, it showcased Russia’s failings in the robotics sector.

Russia’s domestic robotics development has lagged behind since Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The sector had previously relied on foreign manufacturers, but they all withdrew from the country when the war began, triggering discussions among authorities about how to boost progress in an increasingly significant global sector.

In 2023, just 2,100 robotic complexes were installed in Russia compared to 25,000 in Germany and 300,000 in China, according to a report in the IntelliNews.

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Computer scientist and Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton has reiterated his warnings about how artificial intelligence will affect the labor market and the role of companies leading the charge.

In an interview with Bloomberg TV’s Wall Street Week last 31 October, he said the obvious way to make money off AI investments, aside from charging fees to use chatbots, is to replace workers with something cheaper.

Hinton, whose work has earned him a Nobel Prize and the moniker "godfather of AI," added that while some economists point out previous disruptive technologies created as well as destroyed jobs, it’s not clear to him that AI will do the same.

"I think the big companies are betting on it causing massive job replacement by AI, because that’s where the big money is going to be," he warned.

Just four so-called AI hyperscalers — Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet and Amazon — are expected to boost capital expenditures to US$ 420 billion next fiscal year from US$ 360 billion this year, according to Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, OpenAI alone has announced a total of US$ 1 trillion in infrastructure deals in recent weeks with AI-ecosystem companies like Nvidia, Broadcom and Oracle.

When asked if such investments can pay off without destroying jobs, Hinton replied, "I believe that it can’t. I believe that to make money you’re going to have to replace human labor."

The remarks echo what he said in September, when he told the Financial Times that AI will "create massive unemployment and a huge rise in profits," attributing it to the capitalist system.

In fact, evidence is mounting that AI is shrinking opportunities, especially at the entry level, and an analysis of job openings since OpenAI launched ChatGPT shows they plummeted roughly 30 percent.

And this past week, Amazon announced 14,000 layoffs, largely in middle management. While CEO Andy Jassy said the decision was due to "culture" and not AI, a memo he sent in June predicted a smaller corporate workforce "as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company."

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After its announcement last June 2025, Apple publicly released iOS 26 for users in September. As the new features and updates face both criticism and praise, Apple consistently receives it well.

While Apple continue to enhance the user experience of their devices, the new features of the upcoming iOS 26.1 update makes everyone excited.

iOS 26.1 is now available for developers and beta testers, and will soon be released to the public. While this version won’t receive the new Siri update, many other changes to the interface and new features will be introduced.

Most importantly, Apple’s latest revolutionary UI technology, Liquid Glass, receives a new setting. Users can now switch between "Clear" and "Tinted" options for Liquid Glass. While the first option retains the default liquid glass transparency, the latter increases opacity and contrast.

The second major addition is the option to toggle Camera access from the lock screen. The only way to avoid unwanted photos by anybody who gets a hold of your phone is to disable the camera application entirely. However, Apple now offers an option to enable or disable camera access from the lock screen.

Another update to the interface comes in the form of sliding options for Alarms and Apple Music. When an alarm is ringing, users will now see a sliding "Stop" option instead of a tap button. As for Apple Music, users can now skip to the next or previous song by simply sliding left or right where the song title appears.

The Apple TV app icon undergoes a slight change. The white area in the logo now features a subtle colored tint at the bottom. The streaming service will reportedly change from "Apple TV+" to simply "Apple TV," mirroring the name of the app.

Other minor changes will be seen in the Settings app, Fitness app, Photos app, Phone keypad, and Safari app. There are also slight tweaks to display accessibility settings, the Liquid Glass setting, and wallpaper settings.

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If anybody wants to guess the purpose of any given futuristic humanoid robot, they only need to look at its hands. Last week, a pair of videos released by Boston Dynamics and Figure AI provided clear examples that certain tasks simply require much more "human touch."

In the first case, Hyundai-owned Boston Dynamics showed off a new pair of "grippers" for its trimmed-down Atlas factory robot. (Readers familiar with the company may be more familiar with Atlas' older, beefier predecessor).

The claw-like, three-digit pincer features three fingers, one functioning as an extra-long thumb, a combination particularly well suited for pinching and holding objects. Though Atlas was designed to resemble a person in other ways, its hands aren’t exactly one-to-one. Instead, company engineers said, the design was optimized for sorting, packing, and handling objects—all tasks Atlas would need to perform repeatedly in a factory or warehouse setting.

"The goal is to apply as little force as possible while maintaining a stable grasp," Atlas mechanical engineer Karl Price said.

That’s in sharp contrast to the much more seemingly human-like robot hands unveiled by Figure last week. In a flashy video announcing the launch of its knitwear-wearing "Figure 03" model, the company showcases its robots performing delicate tasks like watering a plant, washing dishes, and gently handing a glass of water to their human overlords.

Similar to Tesla with its egg-fondling Optimus robot, Figure has made it clear it envisions a future for humanoid robots in the home. The company describes its latest model as a "general-purpose humanoid robot for everyday use."

But the everyday tasks listed above, as well as many others required of a functional robot butler, pose different engineering challenges than those faced by a machine designed to sort boxes all day. The hands, in other words, offer a clearer glimpse into a robot’s larger place in the world.

Hands might be one of the hardest human body parts to accurately replicate in robotic form. Each one contains more than 30 muscles and 27 joints, enabling 27 degrees of freedom. They also have over 17,000 touch receptors and nerve endings, allowing us to perform a wide variety of actions—from tapping on a keyboard and delicately writing with a pen to hoisting a heavy barbell.

And while robot hands and advanced prosthetic limbs have made significant progress in recent years, none come close to the sophistication, reliability, and innate simplicity of a human hand. That presents a major challenge for humanoid robots, which are increasingly being pitched as tools to augment, or replace, human labor.

"The majority of the hand-led motor actions in these sectors require not only precise movements but also adaptive responses to unpredictable variables such as irregular object shapes, varying textures, and dynamic environmental conditions," University of Florida Professor of Civil Engineering Eric Du told the BBC in an interview earlier this year.

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The iPhone 17 launch has faced some mixed reactions so far, with Apple's latest smartphones leaving some users salty despite being well received by reviewers. the iPhone 17 Pro is Apple off its leash as a camera and performance powerhouse. But then came the issues.

First, there was scratch-gate, where users complained that the mostly aluminum chassis of the new phones were easily damaged, though Apple dismissed that as nothing more than some MagSafe charging stands rubbing off on the phones. Now, though, there's a new problem dogging these top-tier handsets.

According to some users, iPhone 17 models are plagued by cellular connectivity issues. The issues appear to persist across carriers, meaning customers on AT&T fare no better than those on Verizon or other networks.

iPhone owners are seeing dropped calls, missed or unsent messages, and difficulty getting a signal even in areas where other phones get solid coverage. Wi-Fi seems affected, too, with some users reporting connection drops immediately after unlocking.

The problem is reportedly so widespread that Apple's support representatives are acknowledging it in conversations with affected users. That's more concerning than it sounds, since the company has been reluctant to confirm issues as widespread. In one case, a user was offered a return. However, the cause of the issue is unclear.

Apple adopted an upgraded antenna system for the iPhone 17 lineup, along with a brand new first-party wireless networking chip. Meanwhile, iOS 26 is a total visual overhaul for the iPhone's interface, and bugs are bound to accompany that level of change. Here's what we know so far about the iPhone 17's most annoying issue.

Apple is no stranger to iPhone issues, especially with connectivity problems. Way back in 2010, the iPhone 4 was famously beset by similar frustrations, with the phones suffering a signal drop while holding the phone. The debacle was dubbed Antennagate, and it concluded with a quote from CEO Steve Jobs that haunted Apple for years: "Just avoid holding it that way." The characteristically terse response enraged customers, and Apple ended up shipping free bumper cases to those affected to alleviate the issue until a software fix could be pushed.

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At the end of a two-hour Magic8 Pro launch, Honor finally revealed something far stranger than a smartphone. They showed off their "Robot Phone," a concept device that blends AI, robotics, and mobile design into what it calls a "new species" of technology.

Honor described the device as one that "will integrate AI-powered multi-modal intelligence, robotic functionality, and advanced handheld imaging capabilities."

The company added that "as a new species of AI device, the Honor Robot Phone will redefine future human-machine interaction and coexistence."

The teaser video that followed showed a device straight out of a sci-fi film, something between Wall-E and BB-8, with a camera that giggles and swivels on command.

The Robot Phone is not an incremental upgrade or new model. Honor claims it represents an entirely new category of device, one that "positions Honor at the forefront of AI device innovation."

The company even described it as an "emotional companion" that "senses, adapts, and evolves autonomously like a robot, enriching its users’ lives with love, joy, and wisdom."

In the CGI video, the phone’s main feature is a gimbal-mounted camera that pops out from the rear.

The motorized arm allows it to move freely and capture photos or videos from nearly any angle. The camera can even look around when the phone is placed face down, giving the impression that it’s aware of its surroundings.

Honor’s promo depicts the Robot Phone doing everything from entertaining children and taking selfies to skydiving and gazing at the stars.

It even reacts with sound effects, a mix of "wheee, ohhhh, bleep, and coooo," that make it feel like a cross between R2-D2 and Grogu from Star Wars.

Beneath the theatrics, the Robot Phone hints at an evolution in how humans interact with AI.

The device could extend visual search features seen in products like the Ray-Ban Meta glasses or Google’s Circle to Search.

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