The Download: a humanoid cleans house and Samsung builds for the AI boom

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.

I watched a humanoid robot clean my apartment. It felt like a taste of the future.

When I saw an X post about a new humanoid-robot cleaning service in San Francisco, I immediately signed up for the waitlist. I wanted my apartment to feel like The Jetsons, even if just for an hour.

The device that arrived at my building belongs to Tau Robotics, a local startup. Its long-term goal is to make autonomous cleaning robots a reality, but the technology isn’t quite there yet. For now, humans pilot the robots remotely, watching them work through onboard cameras.

There were some unexpected challenges along the way, but also moments that felt like a glimpse of the future.

Find out how well the machine cleaned my home—and how close we are to truly autonomous domestic robots.

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