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Humanoid robots to stall at pilot scale while polyfunctional machines to lead warehouses

Mohammed Fahad
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Humanoid robots to stall at pilot scale while polyfunctional machines to lead warehouses
  • Gartner adds that non-humanoid, polyfunctional designs—often wheeled and with unconventional sensor placement—offer better performance and adaptability.

Fewer than 100 companies will advance humanoid robot proofs of concept beyond experimentation by 2028, with fewer than 20 moving to production in supply chain and manufacturing, as deployments remain confined to tightly controlled settings rather than high-throughput operations, according to Gartner, Inc.

Humanoid robots—human-shaped machines with AI systems, advanced sensors, and ML for task adaptation—are drawing CSCO interest amid labor pressures. But Gartner says hype is outrunning real-world readiness on versatility and cost.

“The promise of humanoid robots is compelling, but the reality is that the technology remains immature and far from meeting expectations for versatility and cost-effectiveness,” said Abdil Tunca, Senior Principal Analyst, Gartner Supply Chain.

Gartner adds that non-humanoid, polyfunctional designs—often wheeled and with unconventional sensor placement—offer better performance and adaptability.

Barriers to humanoid adoption:

  • Technological limits: Insufficient dexterity, intelligence, and adaptability for unstructured warehouse tasks like mixed-SKU picking, trailer unloading, or exception handling.
  • Integration complexity: Difficulties aligning with existing systems and workflows.
  • High costs: Higher capex/opex and lower throughput/uptime vs. task-specific polyfunctional robots.
  • Energy constraints: Limited battery life for high-mobility operations.

Why polyfunctional robots win:

  • Optimised for flexibility without human-like constraints; e.g., wheeled robots with telescopic arms can move boxes, pick cases, scan inventory, and inspect with higher uptime and lower energy use.
  • Better suited to dynamic environments and durability requirements.

“Companies with a high risk appetite and focus on innovation are the best candidates for pursuing humanoid robots at present,” said Caleb Thomson, Senior Director Analyst, Gartner Supply Chain. “For most firms prioritising throughput-per-dollar, polyfunctional robots will be the superior solution.”

Gartner’s guidance for CSCOs:

  • Run pilots to validate feasibility before scaling.
  • Co-develop with emerging providers to shape roadmaps to operational needs.
  • Continuously monitor performance and iterate.
  • Cultivate an innovation culture that supports calculated risk-taking.
  • Prioritise outcome-driven automation targeting specific bottlenecks over generalised headcount-reduction plays.

West and South India drive 89% of server demand

Ana Mary Joseph
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West and South India drive 89% of server demand
  • While infrastructure demand remains concentrated in a handful of large metros, enterprise activity in manufacturing, BFSI, healthcare, e-commerce, media, education, and government is expanding in smaller cities.

West and South India accounted for over 89 per cent of the country’s server demand and 77 per cent of storage revenues in the third quarter of 2025, propelled by hyperscalers and domestic data center providers, according to IDC’s India Quarterly City-Level Server and Storage Trackers.

At the same time, accelerating adoption of cloud, AI, and edge computing is pushing deployments beyond major metros into Tier II and Tier III cities, signaling a shift toward more distributed, regionally deployed digital infrastructure.

IDC said that while infrastructure demand remains concentrated in a handful of large metros, enterprise activity in manufacturing, BFSI, healthcare, e-commerce, media, education, and government is expanding in smaller cities.

As workloads grow more data-intensive and latency-sensitive, enterprises are increasingly deploying regional and edge infrastructure to deliver services closer to end users, prompting data center operators and vendors to reassess city-level strategies and invest beyond Tier I hubs.

Why Tier II and Tier III cities:

  • Sectoral push: Rising investments from manufacturing, NBFCs, healthcare, e-commerce, OTT, education, and government are forcing edge buildouts. Data-heavy applications require regional hosting to cut latency and boost performance.
  • Policy tailwinds: Central and state governments are promoting data center expansion outside Tier I through tax incentives, faster approvals, lower real estate costs, and dedicated DC zones. The upcoming National Data Center Policy is expected to accelerate Tier II/III investments with stronger incentives and improved financing support.

Challenges

  • Physical and network constraints: Smaller cities face inconsistent power and connectivity, a maturing vendor ecosystem, longer procurement cycles, limited specialized expertise, and slower maintenance response.
  • Talent and adoption hurdles: A smaller pool of skilled data center professionals and slower uptake of advanced digital technologies—driven by lower tech awareness and capability gaps—remain headwinds.

“India’s Tier II and Tier III cities are emerging as the next growth frontier for enterprise infrastructure, driven by enterprise expansion, government policy, digital adoption, and cost–quality advantages over metros. However, sustaining long-term growth will require technology providers to investment in customer education, workforce training, and building robust security/compliance capabilities,” said Dileep Nadimpalli, senior research manager, IDC Asia Pacific.

BitGo prices IPO above range, raises $212.8m in 2026’s first crypto listing

Naushad K. Cherrayil
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BitGo prices IPO above range, raises $212.8m in 2026’s first crypto listing
  • Palo Alto-based company is now valued at about $2.08b.

Crypto custody firm BitGo Holdings priced its US IPO at $18 per share, above the $15–$17 range, raising $212.8 million and valuing the Palo Alto-based company at about $2.08 billion. The sale of 11.8 million shares sets up the first US stock market debut by a digital-asset company in 2026.

The listing lands amid regulatory flux, as Congress advances a market structure bill to delineate securities vs. commodities oversight, while industry leaders including Coinbase warn it could constrain core operations. Sentiment has also been jarred by an October crypto selloff, heightening the bar for new issuance.

BitGo’s debut will test investor appetite ahead of expected offerings from Grayscale and reportedly Kraken. Earlier in 2025, Circle and Figure went public during a more bullish window for digital-asset names, buoyed by President Donald Trump’s pro-crypto stance and support for frameworks like the stablecoin-focused GENIUS Act, which coincided with Bitcoin hitting record highs in the first half of 2025.

Founded in 2013, BitGo is among the largest US crypto custodians, safeguarding client digital assets as institutional participation grows. Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are lead underwriters for the offering.

OpenAI rolls out age prediction to filter minors on ChatGPT

Ana Mary Joseph
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OpenAI rolls out age prediction to filter minors on ChatGPT
  • OpenAI frames the move as enabling “treating adults like adults” while reducing accidental exposure for teens.
  • Feature is launching globally, with EU availability in the coming weeks to meet regional requirements.

OpenAI has begun deploying an age-prediction system across ChatGPT to identify users under 18 and automatically apply stricter content safeguards, as the company readies an “adult mode” slated for later this year that will unlock erotic or mature content for verified adults.

The system estimates age using behavioural and account-level signals—such as account tenure, activity times, usage patterns, and stated age—and assigns additional protections if a user is likely a minor.

Existing teen accounts already face restricted access to content involving graphic violence, sexual or romantic/violent role-play, self-harm depictions, risky viral challenges, and material promoting extreme beauty standards or unhealthy dieting.

Adults incorrectly flagged can restore full access by verifying age via a selfie through identity provider Persona. Users can see if safeguards are active under Settings > Account.

OpenAI framed the move as enabling “treating adults like adults” while reducing accidental exposure for teens. The rollout follows recent additions such as parental controls and comes amid legal scrutiny, including a wrongful-death lawsuit involving an underage user, and competitive pressure from more permissive rivals like Elon Musk’s Grok.

The company says expert and academic input informed the approach and that it will refine the model as it learns which signals improve accuracy. The feature is launching globally, with EU availability in the coming weeks to meet regional requirements.

Industry reaction remains cautious. Yaron Litwin, a digital parenting expert at Canopy, warned that age prediction will produce false positives and negatives and pose privacy trade-offs, arguing it should be only one layer in a broader child-safety strategy. He urged education and, for younger kids, blocking access to chatbots altogether.

ByteDance partners Oracle, Silver Lake, MGX to run TikTok’s US app

Ana Mary Joseph
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ByteDance partners Oracle, Silver Lake, MGX to run TikTok’s US app
  • American and global investors will hold 80.1% of the TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, with ByteDance retaining 19.9% post-divestiture.
  • Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX will collectively own 45%, while affiliates of certain existing ByteDance investors will hold 30.1%.
  • ByteDance will appoint one of seven directors; US representatives will hold the remaining majority of board seats.

ByteDance said it has signed binding agreements with Oracle, Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based MGX to create a new joint venture that will operate TikTok’s US app, aiming to satisfy divestiture requirements and avert a ban affecting more than 170 million American users.

Under the structure outlined in an employee memo, American and global investors will hold 80.1 per cent of the TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, with ByteDance retaining 19.9 per cent post-divestiture. Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX will collectively own 45 per cent, while affiliates of certain existing ByteDance investors will hold 30.1 per cent. ByteDance will appoint one of seven directors; US representatives will hold the remaining majority of board seats.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said the venture will operate as an independent entity with authority over US data protection, algorithm security, content moderation and software assurance. Oracle will act as the “trusted security partner,” auditing compliance and hosting sensitive US user data in its US-based cloud.

Unanswered questions remain

The agreement tracks terms previewed in September, when President Donald Trump delayed enforcement of a 2024 law that would have required TikTok to cease operations by January 19 unless a divestiture was completed.

The deal is slated to close January 22. While the White House has said the JV will run the US app, questions remain over the arrangement, including TikTok global’s continued management of product interoperability and certain commercial activities such as e-commerce, advertising and marketing.

The move marks a milestone in a multi-year saga that began with Trump’s unsuccessful 2020 attempt to ban the app. Senator Elizabeth Warren criticised the agreement as a “billionaire takeover” and called for transparency around any backdoor terms. Representative John Moolenaar, who chairs the House Select Committee on China, has said he plans a 2026 hearing with the JV’s leadership.

ADI Foundation touts 2025 as a year “from concept to execution”

Ana Mary Joseph
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ADI Foundation touts 2025 as a year “from concept to execution”
  • ADI Chain is now operating with partners in more than 20 countries and 50 institutions, alongside national‑scale pilots across sectors such as energy, real estate, and digital identity.
  • ADI Foundation outlined an ambition to onboard one billion people into the digital economy by 2030, focusing on countries and populations that lack basic financial infrastructure.
  • FutureTech 4.0 Academy aims to train more than 10,000 specialists in web3 regulation, development, operations, and policy to ensure “human infrastructure” keeps pace with digital infrastructure.

ADI Foundation, an Abu Dhabi–based organisation building sovereign‑grade blockchain infrastructure for governments and institutions, returned to Abu Dhabi Finance Week (ADFW) to showcase a year of progress since announcing its launch at the same venue last year.

CEO Andrey Lazorenko said the group moved “from concept to execution,” highlighting the rollout of ADI Chain’s Mainnet, built specifically for government and institutional use cases, and new partnerships aimed at integrating with global financial institutions to advance regulated stablecoins and institutional digital finance.

New strategic collaborations

Lazorenko said ADI Chain is now operating with partners in more than 20 countries and 50 institutions, alongside national‑scale pilots across sectors such as energy, real estate, and digital identity.

He framed the approach as “a different idea of blockchain,” emphasising auditability, compliance, and alignment with local policy priorities. New strategic collaborations announced during ADFW are intended to accelerate real‑world applications on ADI Chain in line with Abu Dhabi’s ambition to be a global hub for regulated digital assets.

He pointed to Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) as a foundational pillar for the effort, citing the jurisdiction’s dedicated rules for digital assets, currency‑referenced tokens, and DLT entities, which he said offer regulatory clarity and national‑level confidence for institutions building on blockchain.

ADI Foundation is headquartered at ADGM and positions its work as translating forward‑looking policy into scalable systems, including a Dirham‑backed stablecoin initiative with major UAE institutions to support fast, secure, low‑cost domestic and cross‑border payments while preserving monetary and regulatory sovereignty, according to Lazorenko’s remarks during ADFW.

Looking ahead, ADI Foundation outlined an ambition to onboard one billion people into the digital economy by 2030, focusing on countries and populations that lack basic financial infrastructure. The plan includes talent development: the FutureTech 4.0 Academy aims to train more than 10,000 specialists in web3 regulation, development, operations, and policy to ensure “human infrastructure” keeps pace with digital infrastructure.

Lazorenko also cited ties with Sirius International Holding and IHC, which provide access to dozens of entities that could integrate blockchain into operations, helping de‑risk government adoption, fund pilots, and scale social‑impact initiatives on ADI Chain from hundreds of millions to potentially one billion users.

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