Riley Rosebee

Are You Ready For Robots?

The Godspeed Weekly

August 17, 2025

Good morning - Happy Sunday!

Last week, markets marched higher. Every major index closed positive.

Communications was the only sector to close at an all-time weekly high.

Chinese stocks look ready to rock as the World Humanoid Robot Games wraps up in Beijing.

Let’s dive into the top narratives of the week 🫡

World Humanoid Robot Games

In Beijing, 500 robots from 16 countries competed in the first-ever World Humanoid Robot Games - showcasing everything from sprints and soccer to practical skills like medicine sorting.

This isn’t just futuristic theater.

For investors, it’s a live demonstration of how quickly robotics is scaling from prototypes to commercial-ready products.

The location of these games is significant. Chinese stocks are on the cusp of breaking out and the country’s Unitree Robotics team leads the games in Gold medals.

Will China lead the robot revolution? Time will tell…

Robots In The West

US-based robot developer, Figure showed its folding ability using the same Helix “brain” that powers the company’s industrial robots.

Laundry is a tough challenge for robots because towels shift shape and require nuanced tactile abilities.

The fact that Helix could learn this task quickly highlights material progress toward general-purpose robots that can move from factories into homes.

Are you noticing the shift? Robots are coming.

Joby’s Latest Major Milestone

Friday, Joby Aviation completed a major milestrong - flying its piloted eVTOL from Marina to Monterey in California, marking the first-ever piloted eVTOL air taxi flight between two public airports.

The 12-minute flight took place in FAA-controlled airspace, integrating seamlessly with traditional aircraft traffic, and included vertical takeoff and landing, transition to wing-borne flight, and even a holding pattern.

This isn’t just a technical demonstration. It’s a sneak peek into the not so distant future. All eyes on Dubai…

The Commercial Space Race

Last Wednesday, the White House issued an executive order aimed at making the U.S. the global leader in commercial space by 2030. The order mandates aggressive regulatory reform to accelerate private rocket launches, satellite deployments, and next-gen spaceport infrastructure.

Key measures include streamlining environmental reviews and launch permitting, cutting red tape on reentry rules for vehicles like reusable rockets, and aligning federal agency roles to remove bureaucratic bottlenecks.

The order also targets state-level obstacles by instructing agencies to review local compliance issues, especially where state rules may slow down spaceport development on federal land.

If the order is implemented as designed, America’s commercial space industry could witness more launches, accelerated innovation, and reduced regulatory friction.

Read the official Executive Order here.