According to The Rundown AI, Figure has placed its Figure 03 humanoid fleet on 24/7 duty, Toyota has hired seven Digit humanoids, a coordinated robot swarm has learned to fight fires, and MIT has equipped soft robots with an onboard control “brain,” alongside other quick robotics updates (as reported by The Rundown AI on X). According to The Rundown AI, these moves signal accelerating commercial deployment of humanoids into continuous operations, early enterprise adoption in automotive manufacturing, advancement of multi-robot emergency response, and smarter soft robotics via embedded computation—key trends that can cut labor bottlenecks, expand lights-out operations, and open service robotics markets.

According to Sawyer Merritt on X, Toyota unveiled its first all-electric three-row SUV for the US—the 2027 Highlander EV—with up to 320 miles of range, native NACS, and 0–80% fast charging in about 30 minutes, plus battery preconditioning. According to the announcement reported by Sawyer Merritt, the model offers 77 kWh and 95.8 kWh battery options and US assembly in Kentucky. From an AI perspective, battery preconditioning typically relies on predictive thermal control informed by route and charger data; according to Toyota’s feature list shared by Sawyer Merritt, this creates opportunities for AI-driven charging optimization, such as machine learning models that forecast charger availability and dynamically manage pack temperature to reduce charge time and degradation. According to industry practice referenced in coverage like Merritt’s post, native NACS access enables rich telemetry for fleet analytics; this supports AI-based energy cost prediction, charge scheduling, and residual value modeling for dealers and mobility operators. As reported by Sawyer Merritt, the dual-pack configuration provides a dataset for AI-based range estimation and driver coaching, enabling businesses to integrate real-world consumption modeling into TCO calculators and smart routing for ride-hailing and delivery fleets.