Houston startup Persona AI inks agreement with world's largest shipbuilder for humanoid welding robots
A non-moving mockup of Persona AI's humanoid robot worker. The company signed its first agreement with subsidiaries of the Korean industrial powerhouse HD Hyundai Co. Ltd.
Jishnu Nair/HBJ
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Business Insider
15 hours ago
- Business Insider
Global Investors Are Buying Korean Stocks Again – Is It Time for You to Act?
After years of underperformance, South Korea's stock market is back in the spotlight. Global investment firms, such as Aberdeen Investments, Franklin Templeton, and Pictet Wealth Management, are increasing their exposure to Korean stocks as the new government promotes stronger shareholder rights, enhanced corporate governance, and improved capital returns. Confident Investing Starts Here: Easily unpack a company's performance with TipRanks' new KPI Data for smart investment decisions Receive undervalued, market resilient stocks right to your inbox with TipRanks' Smart Value Newsletter President Lee Jae-myung's administration has made shareholder reform a top priority. Investors are now watching closely to see if these changes can narrow the long-standing 'Korea discount' – the tendency for Korean companies to trade at lower valuations compared to their global peers due to weak minority protections and opaque corporate practices. Foreign Investors Are Coming Back The Composite Stock Price Index, KOSPI in short, entered a bull market on Lee's first day in office. According to Korea Exchange data, dividend payouts from Kospi-listed firms rose 12% in 2024 to 44 trillion won, while share buybacks more than doubled to 18.7 trillion won. Some companies are also revising capital plans. Hanwha Aerospace Co., for example, reduced a planned share sale after investor concerns over dilution. What's Changing? Reform efforts focus on giving shareholders more influence. Proposed legislation would: Expand board duties to prioritize shareholders, strengthen audit committee nominations, and support electronic voting and virtual shareholder meetings. These steps are part of the 'Corporate Value-Up' program, modeled after Japan's governance reforms. Around 160 companies have submitted Value-Up plans, though many remain vague. Global investors hope future versions will be more detailed and enforceable. Global Confidence Rises Aberdeen's Asia ex-Japan fund turned overweight on Korea in May. JPMorgan (JPM) Asset Management and Franklin Templeton have also increased their holdings, citing low valuations and early signs of real change. For retail investors, this could be a signal to take a closer look at key Korean stocks, especially those showing improved governance and stronger capital return policies. Notable Stocks to Watch The Outlook Challenges remain. Inheritance and dividend tax reform is still under debate, and Korea faces trade risks and economic headwinds. However, with strong political backing and rising global interest, investors are watching closely. As most companies (besides Samsung and Hyundai), do not appear on Wall Street. We've created an alternative general chart to showcase the stocks mentioned in the article:
Forbes
2 days ago
- Forbes
Prosthetics Startups' Biggest Market Isn't Humans. They're Building Hands For Robots Instead.
Aadeel Akhtar, the founder of Psyonic, has a PhD from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champain. Matt Carney was good at building robots — he just didn't want to. While earning his PhD at MIT, he'd spent years studying mechanical engineering and biomechatronics in service of developing bionic prosthetics that could help people who'd lost limbs. He hoped to build robotic legs that could pick up on the phantom signals sent by a body's muscles or function autonomously so it could move naturally, unlike the plastic, unmoving prostheses that are common now. But as he began talking to venture capitalists about funding a company that would develop these so-called bionics, he quickly discovered that the market didn't want robotic devices that could replace human limbs, it wanted robots that could replace human beings, the sort of humanoids championed by sci fi laureates like Isaac Asimov and self-appointed tech visionaries like Elon Musk. Investors cautioned him against venturing into the cost-heavy medical world and regularly asked if he might be more interested in building humanoids or exoskeleton suits. Even trusted experts building bionic limbs told him the technology currently available wasn't advanced enough to be truly helpful. Without a breakthrough in AI, let alone an addressable market, building futuristic robot body parts wasn't something investors would bankroll. So Carney looked elsewhere, taking a job as chief engineer at Persona AI, an early-stage contender in the field of humanoid robotics that has raised $27 million in funding. It's facing off against much larger startups like Boston Dynamics, Foundation Robotics and Figure AI, which have achieved valuations greater than $1 billion for their human-like bots. Then there's the elephant in the room: Musk's Tesla, which the world's richest man has pivoted toward building humanoid robots, with the idea that they'll generate trillions in revenue for the company and someday outnumber humans. Musk has touted a lofty vision of the future where he sees these robots as a catch-all method for labor, posting on X about replacing surgeons, being a 'personal C-3PO or R2-D2' to perform the bidding of an owner, and, of course, driving a car. Much of the tech world seems sold on them, too. The Information reported Wednesday that Amazon will begin testing out package delivery with humanoids. Speaking onstage at an event in late May for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, billionaire venture capitalist Marc Andreessen said that humanoid robotics provide a solution to regaining manufacturing dominance in the United States, with these robots performing tedious tasks such as installing screws on an assembly line. Carney plans to return to the prosthetics space one day. But he isn't the only entrepreneur who originally wanted to focus on building so-called bionic limbs to help real people, and instead have been pushed to follow the money: why not build for robots too? Take San Diego-based Psyonic, which officially launched in 2021 solely as a prosthetics company, building a waterproof robotic hand with built-in sensors to register touch sensations (alongside perks like the ability to charge a cell phone). Psyonic found some early traction, with Medicare covering the cost of its hands for patients. It was last valued at $65 million in 2024 and has raised a total of $8 million, according to PitchBook. Not long after launching, CEO and founder Aadeel Akhtar started to realize that there could be an entirely new market for his startup's hands, signing on Meta as an early robotics customer for an AI project. By 2023, humanoid robotics were booming, and demand skyrocketed. Now, the majority of Psyonic's business comes from selling its hands to manufacturing firms and robotics companies like Apptronik, which has raised more than $400 million to build humanoid, general purpose robots. The robotics side of his business 'is growing exponentially right now,' Akhtar told Forbes, later adding, 'The big draw there is being able to have one generalized robot do many tasks as opposed to activity specific robots.' Shifting toward catering to humanoid robotics startups comes with advantages. The hundreds of millions being poured into the space is helping commoditize the cost of the core technologies — the actuators, sensors, control methods and carrying capabilities needed to build both humanoid robots and bionic limbs. Akhtar said the shift has helped it further develop its prosthetics technology, and lower its prices. For San Antonio-based Alt-Bionics founder and CEO Ryan Saavedra, who was inspired to build inexpensive robotic hands after his hand was injured in a rock climbing accident, Apptronik is also a major customer. Now, the company sells more robotic hands than prosthetics to 'tier one humanoid companies.' It's a form of 'cross-pollination,' Saavedra said. And Leeds, England-based COVVI, which makes prosthetic hands with the ability to move individual fingers, recently launched a robotic hand tailormade for humanoid robots. 'Every humanoid robot needs robotic arms and legs,' said Connor Glass, the CEO and founder of Phantom Neuro, which is developing a non-invasive implant that enables a person to control a prosthetic device and works closely with prosthetics companies. 'Now [startups] are able to pivot in a way, and try to generate revenue by working with these humanoid robot companies.' It looks like a savvy business move. A Goldman Sachs report from 2024 projects that the total addressable market for humanoid robots will reach $38 billion by 2035. It projects that millions of general purpose human-shaped robots will be produced by then, with a 40% reduction in costs. (Right now, they're often prohibitively expensive; Apptronik is targeting a $50,000 price tag but hasn't reached this unit price, and Boston Dynamics' Atlas robot reportedly costs hundreds of thousands of dollars.) By contrast, there are only 5.6 million U.S. citizens with limb loss or limb difference, according to the Amputee Coalition. That makes this a very small market, and one that's accessed through the U.S. healthcare system. It can take years and millions of dollars to get a more advanced product through the FDA or navigate a complicated insurance system. Robots don't have such hurdles. Not all prosthetics startups are going after this new opportunity. Joel Gibbard, who cofounded Bristol, U.K.-based Open Bionics in 2014 and has raised $18 million to date, has decided to stay focused on making its 3D-printed bionic arms for humans, not robots. 'Everyone in this space is probably having those ideas, thinking about it as a growth opportunity,' Gibbard said. 'I don't know if we've made the right judgment, but I can tell you that we've made a conscious decision.' Bionics needs a watershed moment to get investors' attention, said Tyler Hayes, founder of Atom Limbs, which is building a complex AI-powered arm. 'A company is going to need to demonstrate a pretty significant breakthrough, as the public would see it, for bionic limbs to get that kind of traction,' he said. Building robot limbs for bots is far from a sure bet. Ken Goldberg, the cofounder of robotics firms Ambi Robotics and Jacobi Robotics and a University of California-Berkeley professor, told Forbes that while advances in humanoid robotics are possible in the (very) long term, the timeline and hype surrounding them are exaggerated. Videos promoting these humanoids' capabilities are often misleading, and there's always a wizard behind the curtain, he said. 'Robots are getting very good at locomotion, walking, and so there are all these robots out there that look like humans, walk like humans, and people think 'Well then, they are humans',' he said. 'Manipulation, the hands, is where the challenge is.' (That's why his company, Ambi Robotics, is building purpose-built AI-powered robots that can grip and sort packages, while his newer startup, Jacobi Robotics, is developing purpose-built robots for moving items on and off industrial pallets.) Simple tasks like folding a box or clothes, anything that requires dexterity, are challenging and harder than an activity like walking. It's no wonder humanoid startups are looking toward bionic prosthetics for help. 'We're nowhere near being able to automate those things,' Goldberg said. 'Hands on a robot is a surprisingly big leap.'
Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Miami Herald
Redesigned 2026 Kia K4 Spied In California Ahead Of Debut
The 2026 Kia K4 has been spotted on American roads completely undisguised (since we already know what it looks like), heralding an imminent launch for the automaker's surprisingly popular sedan, which has helped Kia achieve remarkable sales this year. Its distinctive design hasn't hurt sales, but the Korean automaker is already making significant changes to its styling, and this test mule appearing on Orange County roads without any camouflage means those changes are almost ready to reach the dealer. The current Kia K4 has headlights that stretch in three directions: toward the rear of the fenders, toward the bottom of the bumper, and toward the center of the front fascia. Similarly, the rear end has a taillight setup where the housings have both vertical and horizontal bars, which almost creates the commonplace full-width lightbar. For the new model, that quirky design has improved somewhat, as the headlights are now simpler and more upright, which gives us EV9 vibes. At the rear, the taillights now stretch into the fenders, and the horizontal accents have been removed. A pair of small spoilers on either end of the rear windshield also appear to be new. With minimal white vinyl on elements like the bumpers, door handles, charging port, rear fenders, and side skirts, as well as what appear to be production wheels (missing their center caps, though), this K4 sedan prototype seems like the finished product. Although we've hardly seen the new K4 anywhere on the internet, this may already be our last preview, as the new design is expected to arrive for the 2026 model year. Hopefully, it will retain the attractive pricing of the pre-facelift version, which starts at a scarcely believable $21,990, before destination and handling. With the effects of tariffs still casting doubt on pricing, speculating on how much the MSRP may change is probably fruitless, but a small increase seems likely. If you don't mind the current design (seen below), there will probably be some good incentives for the 2025 model when the 2026 variant arrives at dealers. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
