Bedrock Robotics, which is now valued at $4.1 billion, is particularly focused on autonomous excavators, in part because of a growing shortage of skilled operators.

The robots, stomping their little feet and making tiny R2-D2 noises, sat, fell down dead for a "nap," and summersaulted on voice command.

Wearing cameras and sensor gloves, the startup’s human chemists will train robots to perform various lab tasks.

Tesla's revenue was flat and its expenses skyrocketed as it pressed the accelerator on its Optimus robots, AI, and autonomous driving.