Intro

Good morning! Happy Tuesday 🥳!

Snippets

🤖 Robots on the rise: Boston Dynamics videos are always spectacular. This time around, they are presenting their newest addition to the family: “Stretch”, a robot prototype designed to automate box moving tasks in warehouses and distribution centers. Repetitive tasks like box lifting, unloading trucks, etc. can and will be automated by these types of robots. Deep Dive here →

🤦 BMW asking for money: German carmakers are very bullish when going against electric newcomer Tesla. But, when it comes to customer convenience, there is still room to grow. For example, BMW is asking drivers for money to unlock a feature, which is already built into the new models. Deep Dive here →

🚨 FBI issues warning about Deepfakes: We covered Deepfakes (fake images or videos of people) in the newsletter a while back. The FBI now issued a special warning about the potential use of deepfake material by malicious actors. According to the document, malicious actors almost certainly will leverage synthetic content for cyber and foreign influence operations in the next 1-2 years. We are looking forward to deep fake ads on Facebook. Deep Dive here →

Startup of the Day

Warehouse robots: The Perfect Employee?

Source: Nimble

Startup: Nimble Robotics, San Francisco (USA)

Money Raised: $50M Series A

What’s the deal: Imagine reducing your warehouse workforce by 60-70%, while operating around the clock, at no extra cost. Surprisingly, it’s becoming the reality in modern-day warehouses. California-based company Nimble Robotics offers AI-powered robots that pick, pack and manage millions of e-commerce orders.

These robots can handle any order, for example, apparel, groceries, electronics, and much more, with 99.9% accuracy. AI-powered robots promise accuracy, efficiency, and security during the whole process. Recently, Nimble Robotics raised $50M Series A, leading to the rapid deployment of its robots.

Why it matters: As the Covid-19 pandemic has reshaped our world, it has also changed the way consumers shop.

E-commerce has nearly doubled: Ten years’ worth of growth over a period of just a few months.

Reliable warehouse labor is one of the retailers’ major pains, as they struggle to maintain order continuity and fulfillment.

With a decline in the labor pool and an abrupt increase in e-commerce sales, Nimble Robotics offers to fill the labor void. Humans are prone to errors when they find the task too dull.

Through deep imitation learning, AI-powered robots smartly and consistently fulfill orders of around 100,000 pieces each day, irrespective of the process’s tedious nature.

Our take: Catalyzed by the pandemic, the shift to digital shopping channels shows no signs of reversing. Nimble Robotics offers an opportunity to retailers to improve the overall productivity of their businesses through automation.

While the robotics market shows exponential growth, the reality is not entirely positive. The increasing adoption of robotics for low-skilled tasks also leads to a rising number of layoffs. It is doubtful that the technological impact can outweigh the correlated negative costs for society.