Business

Meta buys robotic startup to bolster its humanoid AI ambitions

Published

1 month ago

May 1, 2026

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Meta has acquired humanoid robotics startup Assured Robot Intelligence for an undisclosed sum, the social media giant said.

“We acquired Assured Robot Intelligence, a company at the frontier of robotic intelligence designed to enable robots to understand, predict, and adapt to human behaviors in complex and dynamic environments,” a Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch in an emailed statement.

ARI’s team, including its co-founders, will join Meta’s AI unit, the Superintelligence Labs research division. ARI had raised an undisclosed seed round from AI seed firm Aix Ventures.

The startup was building foundation models for humanoid robots to perform all types of physical labor such as household chores. Co-founder Xiaolong Wang was previously a researcher at Nvidia, and an associate professor at UC San Diego, with a list of prestigious awards to his name. Co-founder Lerrel Pinto, who previously taught at NYU and co-founded the kid-size humanoid startup Fauna Robotics before Amazon snapped it up last month, has also won a string of prestigious awards.

ARI will help Meta with its humanoid ambitions. “This team, led by Lerrel Pinto and Xiaolong Wang, will bring a deep expertise in how we can design our models and frontier capabilities for robot control and self-learning to whole-body humanoid control.”

Meta researchers have been working on humanoid robotics tech for years. A leaked memo from a year ago discussed Meta’s ambitions to build such a robot, including AI models and hardware, aimed at consumers.

Even if Meta never releases a consumer humanoid product, many AI experts these days believe that the path to artificial general intelligence (AGI) — the theoretical point at which AI reaches or surpasses human-level intelligence across all domains — will require training AI models in the physical world, where robots learn through direct interaction rather than data alone.

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The ARI and Fauna deals reflect a broader industry sprint — one where forecasts vary wildly, from Goldman Sachs’s projection of $38 billion by 2035 to Morgan Stanley’s estimate of $5 trillion by 2050 — a spread that reflects both the enormous potential and the uncertainty around tech that’s still finding its footing.

Related Topics:Meta buys robotic startup to bolster its humanoid AI ambitions

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Business

Elon Musk becomes world’s first trillionaire as SpaceX IPO surges on debut

Published

12 hours ago

June 13, 2026

Preport

Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, has attained trillionaire status after SpaceX, the rocket, AI and satellite communications company established by him, turned a soaraway success on its first trading day, surging 20 per cent to $2.1 trillion in valuation.

SpaceX’s shares closed at $161 on the Nasdaq on Friday, compared to its initial public offering (IPO) price of $135, making it the biggest-ever stock market debut.

The IPO had earlier raised $75 billion from investors and the underwriters of the transaction before the listing.

“Liftoff! First $SPCX trade complete,” Space X wrote on X (formerly Twitter), which Mr Musk also owns.

The 54-year old now has a total net worth of $1.1 trillion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with its stake in SpaceX standing at 42 per cent or $767.1 billion as of Friday.

SpaceX debuted with a valuation of around $1.8 trillion. Its valuation at the end of Friday’s trade makes it the sixth-largest publicly traded company in the United States.

Trading under the ticker symbol “SPCX,” SpaceX began trading shortly before noon, attracting strong investor demand.

The listing places SpaceX among the world’s most valuable companies, despite the firm reporting a loss of nearly $5 billion last year and generating significantly less revenue than many technology giants with comparable valuations.

“I gave SpaceX a 10 per cent chance of succeeding at all,” Mr Musk said shortly before the company was listed.

SpaceX, since its establishment in 2002, has evolved from an experimental rocket startup into a dominant player in aerospace, satellite communications, and AI-related infrastructure.

READ ALSO: Elon Musk announces formation of American Party

Starlink, its satellite internet business, has expanded SpaceX beyond rocket manufacturing into a broader technology and connectivity platform.

Mr Musk, who now controls several companies, including Tesla, SpaceX, xAI, and X, began building his wealth by co-founding Zip2 and PayPal.

After completing the acquisition of X in October 2022 in a deal worth $44 billion, Mr Musk introduced monetisation features on the platform, which contributed to the growth of his business empire.

After selling Zip2 and later PayPal, he reinvested much of his earnings into Tesla, SpaceX, and other ventures.

Mr Musk’s wealth is now nearly equivalent to the entire economic output of Switzerland or Poland.

Business

Nigeria’s Pension Assets Top ₦32tn as Kenyan Regulator Understudies Reforms

Published

20 hours ago

June 13, 2026

Preport

BY NKECHI NAECHE-ESEZOBOR—The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has received a four-member delegation from Kenya’s Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) for a four-day technical study visit in Abuja, solidifying Nigeria’s position as a leading reference point for pension reform and regulatory innovation across the African continent.

The Kenyan delegation, led by John Keah, Director of Market Conduct and Industry Development at the RBA, is visiting Nigeria from June 8 to 11, 2026, to understudy PenCom’s regulatory and supervisory frameworks.

Keah noted that the engagement highlights the critical role of cross-border learning among African regulators aiming to optimize retirement systems and improve pension outcomes for citizens. He added that structural similarities between the two nations’ pension landscapes make Nigeria’s journey highly relevant to Kenya’s ongoing domestic reforms.

The RBA delegation is focusing its study on PenCom’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives, its risk-based supervision framework, and its strategies for expanding pension coverage to both the informal sector and the diaspora.

Keah particularly lauded the governance safeguards within Nigeria’s pension system and described the Diaspora Pension Arrangement as an innovative milestone capable of reducing old-age poverty and enhancing long-term retirement security.

Welcoming the delegation, the Director General of PenCom, Ms. Omolola Oloworaran, reiterated Nigeria’s dedication to regional collaboration and knowledge exchange. Represented by the Director of the Surveillance Department, Abdulrahaman Muhammad Saleem, the Director General revealed that pension assets under management in Nigeria have grown to over ₦32 trillion, representing approximately 10.4 percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

This growth, she noted, stems from continuous regulatory reforms, heightened governance standards, and rigorous supervisory mechanisms established since the inception of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in 2004.

Ms. Oloworaran also highlighted the Federal Government’s recent settlement of outstanding accrued pension rights liabilities as a historic turning point for the CPS.

The intervention, executed through the issuance of a Federal Government bond, effectively resolved a prolonged funding backlog that had previously delayed retirement benefits for public sector employees within Treasury-Funded Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).

Under the new framework, accrued rights are transferred directly into retirees’ Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs), granting immediate access to investment returns and eliminating lengthy waiting periods.

The technical visit, anchored on the theme “Risk-Based Supervision and ESG Integration in Pension Funds,” includes interactive departmental presentations, study tours to selected Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), and collaborative sessions on emerging risks.

Both regulatory bodies expect the engagement to deepen bilateral cooperation and foster resilient, inclusive, and sustainable pension architectures across East and West Africa.

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