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Robotaxis and AI Agents Headline Tech Advances in 2026
The tech world saw advancements in autonomous transportation, AI coding, and robotics this week, with Tesla unveiling details about its robotaxi service, OpenAI releasing information on its AI coding agent, and a new humanoid robot named Sprout entering the market.
Tesla's robotaxis are poised to shake up the autonomous vehicle industry with a cheaper price point than competitors like Waymo, according to The Verge. However, the service, which still utilizes safety monitors with access to a kill switch, faces longer wait times. Andrew J. Hawkins of The Verge noted that this move signals the beginning of "price wars coming to the robotaxi industry."
Meanwhile, OpenAI engineer Michael Bolin published a technical breakdown of the company's Codex CLI coding agent, Ars Technica reported. This AI coding tool can write code, run tests, and fix bugs with human supervision. The release provides developers with insight into how AI agents work, detailing OpenAI's implementation of its "agentic loop." According to Ars Technica, AI coding agents are experiencing a surge in popularity, with tools like Claude Code with Opus 4.5 and Codex with GPT-5.2 reaching new levels of usefulness for rapid prototyping and code generation.
Adding to the robotics landscape, Fauna, a startup, launched Sprout, a humanoid robot designed to assist customers in hotels, shops, and restaurants, Wired reported. The robot, about the size of a 9-year-old child, is available for purchase starting at $50,000. Robert Cochran, cofounder and CEO of Fauna, stated the company aimed to build something "lightweight, engaging, and safe to be around, and capable enough to do some exciting things." Fauna is already in discussions with hotels to use Sprout as a butler, delivering items like toothbrushes to guests.
In other tech news, Northwood Space announced it closed a $100 million Series B funding round to expand the deployment of its phased-array radar system, Portal, Ars Technica reported. The company also secured a $49.8 million contract from the US Space Force to enhance the Satellite Control Network.
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