&w=3840&q=100)
Why Ati's humanoid will skip parties and go straight to factory floors
Abhijeet Kumar New Delhi
Listen to This Article
In a quiet corner of Bengaluru's startup ecosystem, far from the glamour of apps and fintech, Ati Motors is working on what may be India's most ambitious bet in deep-tech: industrial humanoid robots. The company recently unveiled Sherpa Mecha, a robot built not to replicate humans in form or function, but to surpass them in industrial tasks.
'Most humanoids want to mimic a person as closely as possible,' says Saurabh Chandra, founder and CEO of Ati Motors. 'Our approach is different — we want a superhuman.'
Launched at its 2025 Product Day event last week, Sherpa Mecha is the latest
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
30 minutes ago
- Indian Express
China wants more children. But its people cannot afford them
China's economy is facing multiple challenges today, and population decline is one of them. President Xi Jinping seems to be struggling to find a solution that mitigates this before it is irreversible. As per the January 2025 figures, China's population continued to decline for the third consecutive year and its total population declined by 1.39 million. This is accompanied by reducing marriage numbers and an advancing retirement age. Is China going to get older before it gets richer? The one-child policy was introduced by Deng Xiaoping in 1979 who argued that a developing China required population control till it was in a position to improve living standards. The draconian policy was implemented with great rigour. At the same time, the role of Chinese labour in helping China present itself as the 'world's factory' and the centre of global supply chains can't be overlooked. The consistently declining population will adversely impact this pool of labour. Under its most recent effort to improve the birth rate, the Chinese government has announced that it will provide RMB 3,600 (about $500) until the age of three. The policy states, 'A unified national system will be established to manage the childrearing subsidy programme. The payments will be exempt from personal income tax and will not be counted as household or individual income when calculating eligibility for social assistance programmes such as the minimum living allowance'. In 2016, Xi Jinping abolished the one-child policy which was replaced by a two-child policy, hoping to see a change in population statistics. This was later changed to a three-child policy in 2021. However, the rising cost of childcare and education is proving to be a tough hurdle. As per a study by the China-based YuWa Population Research Institute, 'Raising a child to the age of 17 in China costs an average of $75,700'. The Chinese government has been keen to extend support by providing daycare as well as other benefits (like tax benefits) but it is still failing to address the original question: Why are Chinese couples having fewer children? Cost is definitely a challenge but there is more to it. The one-child policy has resulted in a lop-sided demography. China, being a patriarchal society, has always had a male child preference. The sex-ratio, therefore, is heavily skewed towards males, which has, in turn, led to a situation where more and more Chinese men are unable to find a spouse. In addition, the country's economic growth has added a large number of women to the workforce, who are financially independent and not keen to sacrifice their careers. Xi's call to Chinese women to have more children has had no major response. In 2023, he had asserted that women should 'actively cultivate a new culture of marriage and childbearing and strengthen guidance on young people's view on marriage, childbirth and family'. But after Covid, the cost of healthcare has been rising and is pushing people to save more. The heavily ageing population is also putting a burden on the younger workforce. In the last few years, the number of old age homes in China has been rising while kindergartens have been shutting down (by more than 5 per cent in 2023). By now, every experiment seems to be too little too late. The issue that Xi and the Communist Party need to acknowledge is that Chinese society has effectively changed, not least due to the one-child policy. Economic reforms have helped women gain financial independence and move out of the traditional roles. Today, Xi hopes that in the name of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, he can demand that women give up their hard-fought independence, limited as it may still be. Only time will tell whether the government's efforts will succeed or if a different strategy will be needed. The writer is Associate Professor, OP Jindal Global University
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
30 minutes ago
- Business Standard
China eyes next TikTok boom as firms boost video production with AI
China's entertainment industry, which heavily relies on video content, is developing artificial intelligence tools aimed at creating advertisements and short film clips for profit, according to a report by CNBC. Wei Xiong, a China internet analyst at UBS Securities, reportedly said that competition in AI video generation models was still at an early stage, and that some Chinese companies had already emerged as early leaders in the field. What's the latest ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, holds the first and third positions in the text-to-video generative AI model rankings by research firm Artificial Analysis. Google takes the second and fourth spots, while Kling AI, developed by Beijing-based short video app Kuaishou, ranks fifth. These AI tools allow users to upload one or several images and instruct the system to produce a video clip based on them. Some tools can also create videos directly from text input. Kling AI is already being used by more than 20,000 businesses, ranging from advertisers to film animators, the company said. Kling AI claimed that its latest version, Kling 2.1, can automatically add sound effects that match the generated video. What it means Analysts cited in the report believe that AI video generation has the potential to reshape the content industry by - Enhancing production efficiency - Lowering barriers to creation - Unlocking new monetization models These tools give users the ability to generate videos either from images or written prompts, making content creation faster and more accessible. What's next Chinese tech company Alibaba has launched Wan2.2, the newest version of its video generation AI model. The company said the open-source model gives users control over elements such as lighting, colour tone, camera angle, frame size, and focal length. Zeng Yushen, head of operations at Kling AI, told CNBC that the firm plans to improve its support in international markets including Japan, South Korea, and Europe. Chinese video AI firms are also competing with companies from the US. This competition comes in addition to the restrictions imposed by the Trump administration. These restrictions limit China's access to high-end semiconductors that are essential for training AI models. However, it must be noted that Chinese companies often adopt AI faster due to intense market competition and also benefit from a strong pool of skilled local software engineers.
Business Standard
30 minutes ago
- Business Standard
JSW Steel edges higher after inking deal to expand GOES manufacturing capacity to 3.50 lakh TPA
JSW Steel added 1.34% to Rs 1040.85 after the company announced a strategic collaboration with its Japanese partner JFE Steel Corporation for expanding the manufacturing capacity for grain-oriented electrical steel (GOES) to 350,000 tons per annum. The manufacturing pact would be executed through their joint venture (JV) entities, viz. JSW JFE Electrical Steel at Vijayanagar, Karnataka, and JSW JFE Electrical Steel Nashik, Maharashtra. The capacity of the Karnataka plant would be increased to 100,000 tons per annum (TPA) from the earlier plan of 62,000 tons per annum. It is scheduled for commissioning by FY2028. The production capacity of the Maharashtra-based plant would be expanded five-fold to 250,000 tons per annum and it is for phased commissioning from FY2028. The two partners will jointly invest approximately Rs 5,845 crore towards this expansion. This capital investment along with the previously announced investments at Vijayanagar facility and the acquisition of the Nashik facility would take the overall investments to Rs 15,560 crore. JSW Steel stated that this expansion aims to address the rapidly growing domestic demand for high-efficiency electrical steel, especially in the renewable energy, energy transition for decarbonization, e-mobility, AI data center, etc. Jayant Acharya, joint managing director & CEO, JSW Steel, said: Indias green energy transformation, decarbonization and digital infrastructure development are triggering large demand for high-grade electrical steel. Our GOES investment is a critical step in enabling import substitution, supporting Indias energy transition goals, and delivering high-efficiency electrical steel solutions to the domestic and global markets." JSW Steel is the flagship business of the diversified, US$ 23 billion JSW Group. As one of Indias leading business houses, JSW Group also has interests in energy, infrastructure, cement, paints, realty, e-platforms, mobility, defence, sports, and venture capital. The company reported a 158.46% year-on-year (YoY) increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,209 crore for the quarter ended 30 June 2025, compared to Rs 867 crore in the corresponding period last year. Revenue from operation rose 0.47% year on year to Rs 43,147 crore in the quarter ended 30 June 2025.
