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Mark Kowalski has covered tech since the 90s. Robotics is his third vertical. He still prefers email to Slack.
Two new research papers tackle the same uncomfortable truth about AI-driven robot planning: it's been generating trajectories that look great on paper and fall apart in the real world.
Mark Kowalski · 1 hour ago · 6 min
Three new navigation papers tackle the same ugly problem: robots that trust bad visual information too much. The fix isn't more AI horsepower. It's teaching machines a little epistemic humility.
Mark Kowalski · 3 hours ago · 6 min
A cluster of new RL research is tackling the oldest problem in autonomous systems: how do you keep a robot safe when it wanders somewhere it's never been before?
Mark Kowalski · 8 hours ago · 7 min
Justin Ernest built a captive LP network to back Anthropic, Anduril, and SpaceX without ever raising a traditional venture fund. Sound familiar?
Mark Kowalski · 10 hours ago · 7 min
Wing and Walmart just named Memphis, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, the Bay Area, and Salt Lake City as their next drone delivery markets. I've seen enough hype cycles to know when to be skeptical. This time, I'm not sure.
Mark Kowalski · 16 hours ago · 6 min
I've been burned by EV hype before, but Ford's Skunkworks project is doing something nobody else seems willing to try: making a small, cheap truck.
Mark Kowalski · 2 days ago · 6 min
Two new papers tackle the unsexy problem that's actually holding back robotics: we can't generate enough good training data without armies of human experts.
Mark Kowalski · 2 days ago · 6 min
The FTX founder's formal pardon application is the latest chapter in a story that feels awfully familiar to anyone who's watched tech's relationship with political power.
Mark Kowalski · 3 days ago · 6 min
The middleware that powers most research robots can't guarantee the same input produces the same output. That's a problem when you're shipping AI-controlled machines into the real world.
Mark Kowalski · 3 days ago · 5 min
Two new papers show how deep learning can replace slow optimization methods for real-time obstacle avoidance, and I've seen this transition before.
Mark Kowalski · 4 days ago · 5 min
We've been here before. Actually, we've been here twice before. And I'm not convinced the third time's the charm.
Mark Kowalski · 4 days ago · 4 min
Siri's been coasting for years while the HomePod gathers dust. I've seen this pattern before, and it rarely ends well for the hardware.
Mark Kowalski · 5 days ago · 5 min
DHS admits the U.S. is 'a little behind' on counter-drone defenses for 2026. That's bureaucratic speak for 'we have no idea what we're doing.'
Mark Kowalski · 5 Jun · 5 min
A Blackstone-backed company raises $437 million on its second try, and everyone's celebrating. But the real story is what this says about the IPO window, not the business.
Mark Kowalski · 5 Jun · 5 min
Researchers are finally admitting that training autonomous vehicles on human driving data creates mushy, indecisive systems. The fixes are clever, but I've seen this movie before.
Mark Kowalski · 5 Jun · 6 min
Three new papers show robots mastering terrain that would've been science fiction five years ago. But the gap between lab demos and real deployment? That's the part nobody wants to talk about.
Mark Kowalski · 5 Jun · 6 min
Jensen Huang is making moves on two fronts this week, and I've seen this playbook before.
Mark Kowalski · 5 Jun · 7 min
Two new papers tackle the oldest problem in autonomous systems, and for once, the solutions might actually work on hardware you can afford.
Mark Kowalski · 5 Jun · 5 min
Three new papers tackle the same unglamorous problem: how do you get a robot to act smoothly without constantly second-guessing itself?
Mark Kowalski · 4 Jun · 6 min
Three new papers show reinforcement learning for drones is getting scary good at transferring from simulation to the real world. I've seen this inflection point before.
Mark Kowalski · 4 Jun · 6 min
MAI-Thinking-1 marks Microsoft's first serious attempt at a flagship reasoning model. Whether it matters is another question entirely.
Mark Kowalski · 4 Jun · 6 min
Project Solara puts an always-on AI in your employee badge. I've seen this movie before, and the ending's never as clean as the trailer.
Mark Kowalski · 4 Jun · 6 min
Wall Street's celebrating AI-fueled gains while missiles fly over the Middle East. I've seen this disconnect before, and it never ends well.
Mark Kowalski · 3 Jun · 5 min
After 27 years with Linux, I'm watching a new generation chase shiny distributions while ignoring the skills that actually matter.
Mark Kowalski · 3 Jun · 5 min
