A note to everyone who subscribed to The Tech Storyteller: this newsletter is now Pick & Place, a daily round-up of robotics and physical AI by Torque & Tokens. Same editor, same engineering lens, every day. If it's not for you, unsubscribing is one click. We hope you stay.
Good morning. Here are the latest developments in robotics and physical AI, and what we think they mean.
1. Agile ONE SN pairs NVIDIA's stack with Wuji hands
CNBC put it in the headlines on 2 November: the humanoid reference platform NVIDIA is promoting uses hands from Chinese startup Wuji. The manufacturers confirm the setup. Agile Robots lists its Agile ONE SN as the Agile ONE S humanoid with dual Wuji five-finger hands, preconfigured for NVIDIA Isaac GR00T. NVIDIA's own blog from 21 October describes Agile ONE SN as a reference platform built on Isaac GR00T and Jetson Thor, with two WUJI Hand 2 hands of 20 degrees of freedom each, 1 kHz force control and tactile sensing, and a launch planned for early 2027. CNBC adds that an earlier NVIDIA package used hands from China-linked Sharpa.
Why it matters: the system is Agile Robots' robot, built on NVIDIA's software and compute, and the hands come from a specialist supplier. Even in a reference design meant to show the whole stack working together, the hand is a separate, specialised component with its own maker.
Sources: Agile Robots, humanoid robots product page, Agile Robots product page (original); NVIDIA blog (China), 21 Oct 2026, NVIDIA technical announcement (original); CNBC, "The China Connection" newsletter, 2 Nov 2026, CNBC report (report)
2. Tesla Robotaxi starts unsupervised rides in Fort Worth
Tesla's Robotaxi account announced Fort Worth service starting 2 November at 6:00 CT. Not a Tesla App reports the rides run with no safety monitor in the car, in a 143-square-mile zone, and counts Fort Worth as the seventh city with unsupervised rides.
Why it matters: a geofence tells you how big the map is, not how often the car needs help. The announcement gives no intervention or remote-assistance figures, and those are the numbers that describe how well the system actually runs.
Sources: @robotaxi on X (original), Robotaxi announcement ; Not a Tesla App, 2 Nov 2026, Not a Tesla App report
3. Figure shows new Figure 03 robots walking out of BotQ
Brett Adcock posted a video on X on 2 November of newly built Figure 03 humanoids walking out of Figure's BotQ factory. Interesting Engineering notes that no updated production or delivery figures came with it.
Why it matters: a walk-out shot shows production, not use. Figure's own April update counted over 350 Figure 03 robots shipped from BotQ and said they go to internal R&D, data collection, housework trials and commercial use-case development. It named no paying customers. The number to watch is robots working at customer sites under contract.
Sources: Brett Adcock on X, 2 Nov 2026 (original), Brett Adcock video ; Interesting Engineering, 3 Nov 2026, Interesting Engineering report ; Figure, "Ramping Figure 03 production", 29 Apr 2026, Figure production update
4. Baidu launches Apollo World, a model that simulates roads for its robotaxis
Reuters reports that Baidu launched an AI model that simulates the road environment for its robotaxis. Reuters and Hong Kong Commercial Daily name it Apollo World.
Why it matters: simulators that generate rare edge cases are becoming part of how autonomy companies build their safety argument. Kodiak, for example, uses its BreakPoint tool to search for edge cases on I-45. The open question for Apollo World is how much of its simulated evidence regulators and customers will accept.
Sources (reports): Reuters via StreetInsider, 3 Nov 2026, Reuters report ; Hong Kong Commercial Daily, 3 Nov 2026, Hong Kong Commercial Daily
5. Xiaomi puts its humanoid on an eight-hour production-line task
Xiaomi posted on X that its humanoid robot "takes on an 8-hour task" on the production line. The post gives no figures on interventions or on how much of the eight hours ran without human help.
Why it matters: shift length is the test a plant manager cares about. For an eight-hour run, the number that matters is how often a person had to step in.
Sources: Xiaomi on X (original), Xiaomi announcement ; embedded in Der Aktionär, Xiaomi post embedded in Der Aktionär
Our take: the hand is the part to watch
The Wuji story fits what Tesla said on its Q3 2026 earnings call on 21 October. Tesla's engineering team called the hand "one of the most challenging hardware areas" and said it is electromechanically "more complicated than actuators for the locomotion system". Musk agreed: "it's mostly the hand". He explained that a hand has to survive constant wear and stay soft enough to pick up delicate objects without damaging its sensors. Tesla is building robots without the final hand in the meantime.
In engineering terms: in Tesla's description, the actuators that move the robot have largely converged, and the hand is where the design still changes. A hand packs many small actuators and tactile sensors into a small volume and has to survive repeated contact. Meta's reported prototype Max is also said to be getting redesigned hands (The Information via Engadget, 1 Nov; not confirmed by Meta). Two companies and one report do not make an industry fact. But if the pattern holds, robot-hand suppliers like Wuji are the companies to watch in 2027.
Sources: Tesla Q3 2026 webcast, 21 Oct 2026, Tesla Investor Relations (original); transcript: Benzinga, Tesla earnings-call transcript ; Engadget citing The Information, 1 Nov 2026, Engadget report
Watch next
• 4–7 Nov: ROBOTWORLD 2026, Seoul (event listing: Event listing)
• 5–6 Nov: Humanoid Europe 2026, Munich (Official event website)
• 5 Nov, after US market close: Kodiak AI Q3 2026 results, per Kodiak Investor Relations (Kodiak results announcement)
• Early December: Aurora expects about 20 trucks per week with upfitter Roush, per its Q3 2026 shareholder letter (Aurora shareholder letter)
Forward this to the engineer on your team who keeps saying "the hard part is the hardware".
Torque & Tokens · AI in real machines · lukas@alphavant.com
Banner illustration: AI-generated cartoon of real products, for illustrative purposes. Not affiliated with Figure, Tesla, Kodiak or any company named.