What Rodney Brooks thinks about robotics

@rodney-brooks · 9 positions · 1 change of mind · On ppll ↗

Robotics researcher, emeritus professor at MIT and former director of its Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, co-founder of iRobot and Rethink Robotics, now at Robust.AI. Since January 2018 he has published dated predictions about self-driving cars, robotics and human spaceflight and scored them in public every New Year's Day, a commitment he made through 2050.

Rodney Brooks did not write this page.

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Only Rodney Brooks on robotics. See everyone on robotics

1 dated position, 2026, in their own words. Our reading of what Rodney Brooks has said — not written or endorsed by them.

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1. 1 Jan 2026

   Our readingMost of the companies now selling a transport technology will quietly disappear, and the survivors will redefine what they are doing without renaming it.

   Their wordsAs with self driving cars, most of the early players in humanoid robots, will quietly shut up shop and disappear. Those that remain will pivot and redefine what they are doing, without renaming it, to something more achievable and with, finally, plausible business cases.

   ↗Predictions Scorecard, 2026 January 01rodneybrooks.com 2nd of 3 in this piece