David Chen retweeted
We're open-sourcing Menlo SDK so you can build your own applications for a humanoid robot.
The SDK connects your code to Asimov 1, letting you control its movements and read its state. With the full source available, you can build on the existing foundation and adapt it to what your project needs.
You can use it to replay a motion, control the robot through a VR headset, or run your trained policy on real hardware.
We're also open-sourcing Asimov Edge, the software that runs on the robot, checks incoming commands, and manages control between your application, a gamepad and other controllers.
- SDK: github.com/menloresearch/men…
- Docs: docs.menlo.ai/sdk
- Order yours: menlo.ai/asimov-1
Keep going.
David Chen retweeted
Voice agents get built three ways: cascaded (STT, LLM, TTS), turn-based speech-to-speech, and full-duplex, where the model listens and talks at the same time.
All three now run on LiveKit Inference: GPT-Live and GPT Realtime from @OpenAI, @grok Voice Think Fast from @xai, and Gemini Live from @GoogleDeepMind. One LiveKit Cloud key, one bill.
The best place in SF to watch the @BlueAngels is @Hey_Billy’s boat. ✈️✈️✈️✈️
On my way to the @LiveKit company retreat in Cancun. Half my suitcase is filled with robots and robot accesories. 🤖
David Chen retweeted
ULTIMATE BOTS SEASON 2 IS HERE. 🤖🏆
4 teams. 6 events. $100K on the line.
Teams will earn points across 3 disciplines:
🥊 Martial arts
💃 Dancing
🏁 Obstacle course
Season 2 hits F1 Austin → TwitchCon → IEEE Humanoids → CES → Big Game Weekend → NVIDIA GTC.
Captains + teams announced soon.
Follow for reveals, ticket drops & live streams.
We just launched our startup program. What are you building in voice, video, or physical AI?
Your whole voice stack, free for a year on LiveKit.
$10K in Cloud credits + a year of Scale + $7K in partner inference credits ($1K each: Gemma, @DeepgramAI, @inworld , @rimelabs , @FishAudio, @AssemblyAI, @GradiumAI.)
One workspace. No provider keys.
Apply now: livekit.com/startups
There's a new version of this post
A chance to interact with Lumi from @lightberry tonight at the Audio Layer event. Hang out and chat about how audio will become the default interface for physical AI with @livekit @ai_coustics @tavus @GradiumAI
luma.com/uxmg18ib
David Chen retweeted
24 hours till Audio Layer! Sign up now: 🔗eu1.hubs.ly/H0yjlcn0
We can't wait to see you at @tavus office for the Audio Layer 3.0: Voice x Robotics.
On top of @quinnfavret, @chenosaurus and @ConstanceGriso, our co-founder Fabian will be joined at the panel by @t_v_b_v , representing @lightberry.
If you want to see interactive demos with robots and Voice AI models, and connect with builders from both spaces - secure your spot today!
See you there?
David Chen retweeted
it took a lot of prep, but i managed to reproduce this
instead of just having astra figure out everything (since i’m token poor), i told it to first do a real2sim of the environment, then move the robot around to check for alignment, then draw
the trajectories will be validated first in sim, then transferred to real
this saves tokens spent and makes astra draw faster
it’s also a proof of how crazy the new model at both few-shot real2sim and robot control
below is an attempt to draw a flower meadow using this method
David Chen retweeted
🔊professional update
tl;dr: I started a company, TokenCompass (@tokencompassai) a workforce AI spend measurement and impact attribution platform.
I've spent my career building analytics, attribution and measurement products. I've also managed hundreds of engineers and multi-million dollar cloud bills. Nothing could have prepared me for how much AI has changed our industry and how we plan and work.
The token is becoming the fundamental unit of enterprise work - spanning teams, departments, humans, and agents alike. Organizations need to budget tokens deliberately and deploy them across a diverse mix of AI products and platforms. That demands new tooling, and new ways of measuring work.
That’s why I’m building TokenCompass, which focuses on multi-provider AI spend measurement (how much are we spending across every tool?), and cross company usage + impact attribution (are we using the tools effectively, and making an impact?).
We’re in private beta now. So if you’re trying to stay on top of costs, and trying to get a better understanding of AI usage and impact within your organization, please comment, DM or sign up to request a demo!
[link below in the comments]
More soon!
(ok, back to doom posting)
David Chen retweeted
Two weeks ago, we ran @UFBots Fight Night inside @foxglove’s Actuate 26 at Fort Mason - our first fight running completely on Foxglove.
Every robot in the cage streamed live telemetry through the Foxglove Python SDK and recorded everything to MCAP, in front of ~1,500 people in the venue and ~300K watching on Twitch.
One bot went down mid-fight and had to be swapped.
After the show, we opened the recording and asked the new Foxglove Agent what happened. It read the data, built the relevant plots, and explained what it saw. Instead of digging through topics, you just ask.
They had launched Agent that morning. A few hours later, we were already using it on real fight data.
That’s the practical case for Foxglove: live visualization, recordings, search, and now natural-language analysis of robot data in one place.
The bigger picture for us: @foxglove is where we inspect the data. @nebiusai is where we train. At Actuate, both were in the same room.
The fight itself became a dataset.
The next step: fine-tuning on what actually happened in the arena.
And the pilots weren’t hired drivers - they were founders and engineers from @foxglove, @livekit, @LightwheelAI, @antiochrobotics, @Waymo, @nebiusai, with a final between @innate_bot and @OrangewoodLabs.
Thanks @adrianmacneil for having us and congrats on the successful event!
David Chen retweeted
Introducing Ato, your grandparent’s next computer.
Over the past year, more than 2,500 older adults around the globe have used Ato in their daily lives through our beta program, and today we're taking our next step.
Ato helps seniors stay independent on their own terms. It gives families a simple way to stay close and the peace of mind that comes from knowing how they’re doing, without cameras or tracking.
The new Ato lives in the home, becomes part of their routine, and keeps families connected, all through a simple realtime voice interface.
Millions of families are trying to help someone they love stay independent while coordinating care across relatives, caregivers, and healthcare providers. We’re building Ato into the coordination layer that brings all of them together.
David Chen retweeted
A robot doesn't live in the same acoustic world as voice agents. Navigating a three-dimensional acoustic sound field is far more complex than operating on a monophonic audio stream.
As human beings, we spend a lifetime learning to navigate, recognize and differentiate all of these auditory cues. We know where a sound comes from, which voice is meant for us, and what to ignore. Current robotics applications, however, are mostly guided by sensory input based on vision and movement, while voice, and audio in general, is still the overlooked layer.
At @ai_coustics we believe that training those auditory cues into an audio intelligence layer for machines and applications will open the door to more natural conversations and real spatial awareness, as well as entirely new physical AI applications, all based on the same audio understanding we rely on every day.
We are co-hosting Audio Layer 3.0: Voice AI x Robotics with Tavus at their SF office, Tuesday, September 15th.
I'll be joined on the panel by @quinnfavret (Co-founder at @tavus), @chenosaurus (GM Robotics at @livekit), @ConstanceGriso (Chief Growth Officer at @GradiumAI) and @aliattar (Founder at @lightberry).
Join us for some demos and a conversation across the voice AI and robotics stack, plus a chance to catch up with familiar faces and meet new ones over food and drinks.
If you're in SF and working on Voice or Robotics, we would be happy to see you there. 🙂
🗓️ RSVP here: luma.com/uxmg18ib
This robot is super cute. Also love to see the growing adoption of Rockchip SoCs!
We have a huge news to share today!
Today we are unveiling the first truly accessible RL robot - welcome Microduck
A 25 cm tiny open-source biped with 15 actuators and packed with sensors (camera, speaker, LiDAR, NFC, bluetooth, wifi, etc) that you train yourself with reinforcement learning.
It's also playable out of the box with more than half a dozen fun and playful pre-trained policies to have it walk, sit, crouch, roller-skate, pick up objects with its articulated beak, and recover on its own.
And all for less than $400.
See all the details, play with the simulator and order it at: pollen-robotics.com/microduc…
(video with sound on 🔊)
I will be speaking on a panel tomorrow night at the @trossenrobotics event at @MissionRobotBay . Come by if you love robots 🤖
luma.com/trossen-proprio-liv…
