It’s hard to keep count of all the humanoid robots in development, but there seems to be about 20 different models. However, Samsung has more manufacturing heft than most, so its entry may be more significant.

It’s announced a majority stake in Korean firm Rainbow Robotics, which was first spun off from a Korean academic institution. Rainbow have been around for a while, and their flagship humanoid model is the RB-Y1. It’s wheeled, which marks it out from others, but that might be an advantage, as it simplifies the engineering of movement and locomotion. In terms of tasks and work with its arms it looks as capable as any other in development, and ahead of many.

Robot training in 2025 just got easier - the two leading training models are now open-sourced. This will level the playing field, but also give advantages to people like Samsung. Their expertise is in selling commercial products - maybe that is the breakthrough humanoid robotics needs now?