This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.

The hype around humanoid robots is reaching fever pitch. Much of it comes from the idea that the same AI advances behind ChatGPT and Claude could enable robots to imitate human movement the way chatbots imitate human language. But many researchers are skeptical.

They argue that such assumptions minimize the challenges of using an intelligence built on language and images to master the infinite variability of the physical world. They also point out that conflating humanoids with so-called generalist machines is misleading.

Across robotics labs, tensions have emerged over whether current forms of AI are all that’s needed to perfect all-purpose humanoids or whether an entirely new path is required.

Read the full story on what it will take to build truly general-purpose robots.

This story is a collaboration between MIT Technology Review and Aventine, a non-profit research foundation that creates and supports content about how technology and science are changing the way we live.

WaveSave is one of MIT Technology Review’s10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch 2026, available exclusively to subscribers.

As sea levels rise and flood risks worsen, WaveSave has emerged with an ingeniously simple tool: a portable rubber dam that’s quick to install when flooding starts.

Anyone can unfurl the SlamDam on the ground along a riverbank or shoreline and pump it full of water until it swells into place.

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