Chinese Robot Firms Pivot to Household Chores, AI Brains Key

Chinese robot companies are shifting focus from performance showcases to practical applications in everyday life. A recent demonstration by X Square Robot highlighted humanoids performing household tasks, such as slowly picking up litter and sorting flower bouquets. This event signaled a deeper industry move toward proving value in messy, unpredictable home environments.

Credit: X Square Robo

Chief Executive Wang Qian of X Square Robot stated that while the hardware is largely developed, the artificial intelligence "brain" has not yet advanced sufficiently. This gap is becoming evident as companies transition from pre-programmed demonstrations to real-world deployment of robots.

Chinese humanoid robots can complete half-marathons faster than elite athletes, but tasks simple for humans remain difficult. Tidy a cluttered room, load a dishwasher, or fold clothes pose significant challenges for these machines.

Chief Executive Wang explained that marathon robots primarily contend with a constant gravitational field. However, manipulating objects with hands requires extreme precision; a deviation of 0.1 millimetres can cause a task to fail.

Repetitive actions like running require robots to be trained on relatively simple datasets. Navigating a household, where no two tasks are identical, demands a much more sophisticated AI "brain" capable of perceiving gravity and light like humans.

X Square Robot, based in Shenzhen, states it developed such an AI model called Wall-B. Wall-B was trained on data collected from over 100 households, with exposure to "noisy" conditions like pets and clutter deemed critical for performance improvement.

The company plans to introduce Wall-B into its home-cleaning robots in late May. X Square Robot also partnered with Chinese services platform 58.com, allowing Shenzhen users to book a human cleaner alongside one of the company's home-cleaning robots. A three-hour shift costs 149 yuan ($21.90), and the machines have serviced over 50 households.

Chief Executive Wang acknowledged that initial consumer feedback described the machines as slow and clumsy. However, Wang argued that real household deployment is essential for robots to enhance their ability to perform simple tasks effectively.

Wang noted that sometimes robots may place slippers in the kitchen or pause mid-task to "think"; company employees intervene remotely during such malfunctions. Wang also highlighted the enormous potential market size once the technology matures and robots become reliable household helpers.

Wang pointed out that household labour accounts for roughly 20% of GDP, representing a potentially vast market. Founded less than three years ago, X Square Robot has raised billions of yuan from investors, including Chinese tech giants Xiaomi and Alibaba, who are heavily investing in AI.

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• Chinese robot firms are shifting focus from high-performance demonstrations to practical household chores.

• X Square Robot's Chief Executive Wang Qian noted the hardware is ready, but AI "brains" need further development for complex tasks.

• Simple household tasks, requiring precision and adaptability, remain difficult for humanoids compared to repetitive actions like running.

Source: REUTERS

Xbox Game Pass Prices Reduced, 'Call of Duty' Day-One Inclusion Ends

Microsoft has reduced the price of its video game subscription service and will no longer include future "Call of Duty" game releases on launch day, marking a significant strategy shift under new gaming boss Asha Sharma.

Credit: MICROSOFT

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will now cost USD 22.99 a month, down from USD 29.99. PC Game Pass prices are also reduced to USD 13.99 monthly from USD 16.49, the software firm announced in a blog post.

Microsoft had previously positioned subscription services and cloud gaming as key drivers for the Xbox brand. However, consistent Game Pass price increases, declining console sales, and a shortage of compelling titles left Microsoft lagging rivals Sony and Nintendo.

The removal of "Call of Duty" games on launch day reverses a recent strategy. This decision followed Microsoft's acquisition of developer Activision Blizzard for USD 69 billion, an investment intended to draw users to Game Pass.

Future "Call of Duty" titles will be added to Game Pass services approximately one year after their initial release, the company stated.

Uncertainty regarding the Xbox brand's future was heightened by leadership changes. These changes included the departures of Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond. Microsoft insider Asha Sharma subsequently assumed the top role, leading the company's gaming division.

The Verge reported, citing an internal memo to Xbox employees, that Sharma acknowledged Game Pass had become too costly for players.

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• Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass prices have been reduced.

• Future "Call of Duty" games will no longer be available on Game Pass on launch day.

• New "Call of Duty" titles will join Game Pass approximately one year after release.

Source: REUTERS

Meta to Monitor Employee Computer Activity for AI Model Development

Meta is installing new tracking software on computers used by its employees based in the U.S. The software aims to capture mouse movements, clicks, and keystrokes. This data will be used to train Meta’s artificial intelligence models, as part of an initiative to build AI agents capable of performing work tasks autonomously.

Credit: UNSPLASH

The tool, called Model Capability Initiative (MCI), will operate on work-related applications and websites. It will also take occasional snapshots of screen content, according to an internal memo. This memo was posted by a staff AI research scientist within the company's model-building Meta SuperIntelligence Labs team.

The stated purpose is to improve the company's AI models. The models currently struggle to replicate human computer interaction, especially with tasks like choosing from dropdown menus, and using keyboard shortcuts.

An internal memo noted, "This is where all Meta employees can help our models get better simply by doing their daily work."

Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, is actively integrating AI into its workflows and restructuring its workforce around the technology. The company believes this will lead to more efficient operations.

Meta Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth informed employees in a separate memo that internal data collection would increase. This is part of "AI for Work" efforts, now known as Agent Transformation Accelerator (ATA).

Bosworth stated, “The vision we are building towards is one where our agents primarily do the work and our role is to direct, review and help them improve." He added that the aim was for agents to "automatically see where we felt the need to intervene so they can be better next time.”

Bosworth did not explicitly detail the training methods for these agents. However, he affirmed that Meta would be “rigorous” in “building up data and evals for all the types of interactions we have as we go about our work.”

Meta spokesperson Andy Stone confirmed that MCI data would serve as one of the inputs for this training.

Stone specified that MCI data would not be used for performance assessments or any other purpose apart from model training. He also noted that safeguards are in place to protect "sensitive content," without further elaboration on which types of data would be excluded.

Stone explained, "If we're building agents to help people complete everyday tasks using computers, our models need real examples of how people actually use them — things like mouse movements, clicking buttons, and navigating dropdown menus."

The move to automate functions previously performed by human staff reflects a broader trend among major U.S. companies this year. This pattern is particularly evident within the technology sector.

AI tools have garnered significant attention in Silicon Valley for their ability to handle complex tasks. These include creating applications and organising large volumes of data with limited human oversight. This has led to a selloff in traditional software company stocks and prompted some executives to plan extensive job cuts.

Meta plans to lay off 10% of its global workforce starting on May 20. The company is also considering additional large cuts later this year.

Amazon.com has similarly reduced its corporate workforce by 30,000 employees in recent months, representing nearly 10% of its white-collar staff. Additionally, the fintech company Block chopped nearly half of its staff in February.

Internally, Meta has encouraged staffers to use AI agents for coding and other tasks, even if it causes short-term delays. The company has also removed distinctions between certain job functions, favouring a new general-purpose job title called “AI builder.”

Meta created a new Applied AI (AAI) engineering team last month. This team aims to enhance the coding capabilities of Meta’s AI models and use them to develop AI agents. These agents will perform the majority of the work to build, test, and ship future products and infrastructure at Meta.

The company began transferring “strong” software engineers into AAI earlier this month.

Ifeoma Ajunwa, a law professor at Yale University, noted that computer logging and screenshotting technology have historically been used by companies. These tools typically aim to identify employee misconduct or non-work-related activities.

Ajunwa stated that the decision to log employees’ keystrokes advances data-gathering goals further. This subjects white-collar employees to a degree of real-time surveillance previously experienced only by delivery drivers and gig workers.

Ajunwa said, “On the U.S. side, federally, there is no limit on worker surveillance.” She added that state-level laws, at most, require workers to be generally informed when employers are monitoring them.

Valerio De Stefano, a law professor at York University in Toronto who studies technology and comparative labour law, believes European law would likely prohibit such monitoring.

In some European countries, like Italy, electronic monitoring for tracking employee productivity is explicitly illegal. German courts have ruled that employers can only deploy keystroke logging in exceptional circumstances, such as suspicion of a serious criminal offence.

De Stefano added that the practice would likely be considered a violation of Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation.

More broadly, De Stefano said, employee awareness of employer surveillance shifts the balance of workplace power in the employer’s favour.

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• Meta is implementing new software to track employee computer activity, including mouse movements, clicks, and keystrokes.

• This data will be used to train artificial intelligence models, with the goal of developing AI agents that can perform work tasks autonomously.

• Meta Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth stated the vision is for AI agents to "primarily do the work," with employees directing and improving them.

Source: REUTERS