Why aren’t hundreds of millions of intelligent robots already operating in the physical world?
In this episode of NEXT with John Koetsier, John speaks with Seth Winterroth, partner at Eclipse, about the rapidly changing robotics investment landscape, the rise of physical AI, and the race to build the next generation of autonomous machines.
They explore whether the world really needs hundreds of humanoid robotics companies, why timing matters as much as technology, and why some robotics startups may need to build the entire stack ... from hardware and embedded software to AI models, evaluation systems, and deployment infrastructure.
The conversation also covers Genesis AI, Wayve, Project Prometheus, Apptronik, Figure, 1X, autonomous vehicles, delivery drones, industrial automation, surgical robotics, and the future of robots in the home.
Topics include:
• Why robots still aren’t widely deployed
• The five forces driving robotics investment
• Whether 400 humanoid robotics companies are too many
• Full-stack versus platform-based robotics strategies
• The challenge of achieving reliability and safety
• When useful home robots may finally arrive
• Why autonomous vehicles are already robots
• The industries likely to adopt robotics first
• The future of manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and surgery
• What the next major robotics inflection point could be
Seth Winterroth is a partner at Eclipse, an investment firm focused on companies transforming physical industries. Eclipse has backed robotics and automation companies including Genesis AI, Wayve, MiND Robotics, Foxglove, and Third Wave Automation.
Subscribe to NEXT for more conversations about AI, robotics, emerging technology, and the companies shaping the future.
00:00 Why aren’t robots everywhere yet?
00:37 Introducing Seth Winterroth
01:03 The robotics investment landscape
02:00 Seth’s background in applied robotics
03:01 The five forces accelerating robotics
04:04 Are there too many humanoid robot companies?
05:00 Creative destruction in robotics
06:02 How investors pick the winners
06:38 Why robotics companies need velocity
07:00 The danger of being too early or too late
07:51 How Wayve benefited from entering later
08:36 Project Prometheus and the $10 billion seed round
09:05 Why Genesis AI is building full stack
10:01 Full-stack robotics versus foundation-model platforms
11:03 The dirty secret: Where are all the robots?
12:03 Reliability, safety, and deployment friction
12:39 The challenge of vertical integration
14:02 What robotics companies should build themselves
15:03 Capital requirements and the robotics J-curve
16:01 How robotics companies can scale rapidly
16:39 When humanoid robots may reach the market
17:04 Figure, 1X NEO, Unitree, and AgiBot
18:24 A broader definition of robotics
19:04 Are cameras and dishwashers robots?
19:39 Autonomous vehicles as embodied AI
20:23 Why transportation autonomy could be transformational
21:05 Why humanoids still have a long way to go
21:44 One general-purpose robot or many specialized machines?
22:35 What will make home robots successful?
23:39 Finding the minimum viable home robot
24:20 Physical and digital products
25:04 Why the App Store model matters for robotics
26:05 How robots will gain new capabilities over time
26:35 The brutal economics of consumer robotics
27:12 Consumers buy outcomes, not robots
27:48 Robotics beyond humanoids
28:18 Kiva Systems and the modern robotics era
29:05 Why constrained environments win first
30:02 Robotics in automotive manufacturing and logistics
31:02 Eclipse’s robotics portfolio
31:31 When robots will begin walking among us
32:03 The next major robotics inflection point
32:42 Escaping the trough of disillusionment
33:29 Why autonomous transportation is nearly solved
34:04 How self-driving changes cities and society
34:36 The future of robotic surgery
35:01 Delivery drones and regulatory barriers
35:39 Closing thoughts
