Join me, your host Tom Green, for our annual Holiday Special exploring how robotics transforms lives, rebuilds cities, and lifts nations. This year's theme showcases four extraordinary stories of social change through automation.

This year's theme is one close to my heart: "Robotics Driving Social Change."

We begin in India, where three startups—Genrobotics, Solinas Integrity, and Sakar Robotics—are using robots to end manual scavenging, one of the world's most dangerous jobs, giving 58,000 workers dignity and safety. Then we travel to Tokyo, where Silicon Valley legend Andy Rubin launches Genki Robotics, betting he can revive Japan's humanoid robotics industry.

Next, we explore Pittsburgh's remarkable transformation from dying Steel City to global robotics hub, anchored by Carnegie Mellon's pioneering research.

Finally, we examine Deng Xiaoping's 1978 reforms that lifted 300 million Chinese from poverty and positioned China as an automation superpower.

Read the full articles at Asian Robotics Review:

1. "Fatbergs", Excreta & Pipe-Cleaning Robots -
2. Andy Rubin's Bold Bet on Japan's Humanoid Future -
3. The Fall & Rise of Pittsburgh: From Dying Steel Town to Global Robotics Hub
4. The Rise of Deng Xiaoping: China's Christmas Miracle & Best Gift Ever! -

Heartfelt Thanks for Making This Is Robotics the #1 Global Robotics News Podcast

Welcome to Our Halloween Program 2025

Yes, it’s Halloween, when people dress up like someone or something else, and when the dead come back to visit the living. Which, in a way is kind of apropos of today’s podcast.

ABB Sells to SoftBank

The recent sale of ABB’s robotics division to Japan’s SoftBank. Was that a normal sale of one company to another, or was it something else? Was it part of a disguise? Was it part of an elaborate plan for Japan’s moribund AI and smart robotics industry to return to the world of the living? Was the sale a disguise to get Japan back into competition with its neighbors China and Korea.

In an age of conspiracy theories, maybe this is one of them. Strange that it all happened in October, and much of it very close to Halloween.

The Real Internet Origin Story 1966

As a program bonus, we look back at the Internet before the Internet as we know it, 1966. When two engineers pioneering the Internet resolved to democratize the technology for the rest of us.

LINKS FOR FURTHER READING

ABB Bails on Robotics

SoftBank, Robotics/AI & Takaichi Converge

How the Internet Came to Be
The Untold Story of Everything Digital

Heartfelt Thanks for Making This Is Robotics the #1 Global Robotics News Podcast

Welcome to This Is Robotics – Episode #40!
Where innovation meets imagination.

In this episode, we explore the thrilling fusion of robots and Generative AI—and where better to witness this convergence than inside the high-stakes world of pharmaceutical R&D labs?

First up: GenAI is already transforming the search for life-saving treatments—and today, we're going deep. How exactly are robots and AI teaming up to crack the toughest codes in drug discovery? You'll hear directly from the pioneers making it happen.

One such visionary is Alice Zhang, founder and CEO of Verge Genomics. Her mission? Nothing short of revolutionizing neuroscience research for the world’s most intractable diseases—Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). Alice believes the current system is broken—and she’s raised $134 million to fix it. We catch up with her at Stanford, where she shares her bold new model for medical breakthroughs.

Then, we dive into the world of Pharma 4.0—where robots, GenAI, and brilliant human minds unite in a powerful alliance. What was once science fiction is now reality: rapid, intelligent drug discovery with astonishing success rates. You'll hear from the front-line researchers turning dreams into data—and data into cures.

Ever wonder how robots and AI actually work together in a lab setting to make these miracles happen? So do many of our listeners. That’s why we traveled to Liverpool, UK, to meet Andy Cooper, who’s redefining lab automation and will show you exactly how it's done.

And finally: Why make industrial robots smart? The answer could save your business millions. In fact, a staggering 82% of companies have suffered at least two major production line outages in just the last three years. With average downtime now costing $260,000 an hour, it’s a crisis that’s too expensive to ignore. Smart robots may just be the fix the industry desperately needs.

So buckle up—we’re about to take you inside the labs, the minds, and the machines shaping the future of health, science, and intelligent automation.

Let’s get into the news…

See also:
Why Make Industrial Robots Smart?
https://asianroboticsreview.com/home399-html

Heartfelt Thanks for Making This Is Robotics the #1 Global Robotics News Podcast