Can we really build a $10,000 humanoid robot on open-source AI?

In this episode of TechFirst, John Koetsier talks with Chris Kudla, CEO of Mind Children, about a radically different approach to humanoid robots. Instead of six-figure industrial machines built for factories or war zones, Mind Children is building small, safe, friendly social robots designed for kids, classrooms, and elder care.

Meet Cody (MC-1), their first humanoid prototype.

Cody is built on open-source AI from SingularityNET, combined with modular hardware, low-torque actuators, and a wheeled base designed for safety, affordability, and mass production. And there's some other AI bits and pieces from all the big name companies that you'd recognize.

Mind Children's goal is ambitious: a $10,000 humanoid robot that families, schools, and care facilities can actually afford.

In this conversation we explore:

• Why social robots may be the real gateway to embodied AI

• How Cody is designed for children and elder care instead of factories

• Why wheels beat bipedal legs for safety, cost, and stability

• How open-source AI and modular software stacks enable faster innovation

• The emotional and ethical challenges of building companion robots

• And what it takes to bring a humanoid robot to market at scale

This is not sci-fi. This is the early blueprint of a future where humanoid robots are personal, affordable, and open-source.

00:00 – The $10,000 open-source humanoid question

01:58 – Meet Cody, the MC-1 prototype

04:10 – Why Cody is small, child-sized, and approachable

06:55 – Designing humanoids for kids and elder care

09:45 – Social robots vs industrial humanoids

12:40 – Wheels instead of legs and why that matters

16:05 – Low-torque actuators, safety, and toy-like design

19:20 – Modular hands, arms, and future upgrades

22:10 – Open-source AI and SingularityNET’s role

25:30 – On-robot vs cloud AI and why it matters

28:40 – Vision, LiDAR, and simulated world models

32:10 – Emotional awareness and social intelligence

35:10 – The $10K target and mass-production strategy

38:15 – The risks of attachment to robot companions

40:00 – Final thoughts on Cody and the future of social robots

Is AI really the new UI, or is that just another tech buzzphrase? Or ... is AI actually EVERY user interface now?

In this episode of TechFirst, host John Koetsier sits down with Mark Vange, CEO & founder of Automate.ly and former CTO at Electronic Arts, to unpack what happens when interfaces stop being fixed and start being generated on the fly.

They explore:

• Why generative AI makes it cheaper to create custom interfaces per user

• How conversational, auditory, and adaptive experiences redefine “UI”

• When consistency still matters (cars, safety systems, frontline work)

• Why AI doesn’t replace workers — but radically reshapes workflows

• Whether browsers should become AI-native or stay neutral canvases

• The unresolved risks around AI agents, payments, and control

From hospitals using AI to speak Haitian Creole, to compliance forms that drop from hours to minutes, this conversation shows how every experience can become intelligent, contextual, and helpful.

👉 If you care about product design, AI, UX, or the future of software, this episode is for you.

Subscribe for more conversations like this:

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⸻

👤 Guest

Mark Vange

CEO & Founder, Automate.ly

Former CTO, Electronic Arts

Investor, serial entrepreneur, and builder focused on intent-driven, AI-native software

⸻

⏱️ Chapter Markers

00:00 – Is AI the New UI?

Why generative interfaces are reigniting the UI conversation

02:10 – The Hidden Cost of Traditional Interfaces

Why one-size-fits-all software limits users

04:20 – When UIs Are Generated on Demand

Adaptive experiences vs fixed screens and buttons

06:15 – Conversational & Multimodal Interfaces

Why voice, audio, and language are all “UI”

08:30 – When Consistency Still Matters

Safety, muscle memory, and shared interface conventions

10:45 – How Generative UIs Change Work

AI as a collaborator, not a replacement

13:05 – Making Every Page an Application

Why “dumb forms” and static sites are disappearing

15:10 – The Browser as the Ultimate Interface

Neutral canvases vs AI-controlled environments

17:10 – AI Agents, Payments, and Control

Why money is the hardest unsolved AI problem

19:25 – The Future of Multimodal UI

Why UI goes far beyond pixels and screensIs AI really the new UI — or is that just another tech buzzphrase?

The web is turning agentic.

And that changes everything from shopping to search to SEO.

In this episode of TechFirst, John Koetsier sits down with Dave Anderson (VP at ContentSquare + host of the “Tech Seeking Human” podcast) to unpack what happens when browsers and AI assistants don’t just answer … they do stuff. For you. On your behalf.

From Atlas and agentic browsing to the growing backlash from retailers (hello, Amazon vs Perplexity), we explore who benefits, who loses, and what the internet becomes when agents are the default user.

You’ll hear why retailers are nervous (security, margins, coupon hunting), why agent-first experiences might create “headless” retailers (like ghost kitchens, but for ecommerce), and why search is shifting from SEO to AI visibility.

Plus: real talk about trusting agents with your credit card, hallucinations, and what it means if your agent can look indistinguishable from you.

Guest

Dave Anderson — VP, ContentSquare

https://contentsquare.com

Podcast: Tech Seeking Human

https://www.techseekinghuman.ai

Links & subscribe

Subscribe for more conversations on tech, AI, and what’s next: https://techfirst.substack.com

Transcripts always available here

https://johnkoetsier.com

00:00 Agentic web: what changes when browsers “do stuff”

00:59 Meet Dave Anderson (VP + podcast host)

01:31 30,000 feet: why “agents” suddenly matter

03:48 The agent future John wanted 10 years ago

04:21 Why Amazon doesn’t want your agent shopping on Amazon

05:07 Ticketmaster, bots, and the security nightmare

06:26 Siri’s original promise vs today’s reality

08:31 Are agents just bots… or something different?

10:04 Retail fears: coupon hunting, margins, returns chaos

11:21 Can you trust an agent with your credit card?

11:59 Why retailers want their own agents (and control)

13:14 Amazon’s agent works… but is it the whole internet?

14:19 Ghost kitchens for retail: “headless” agent-first brands

15:17 Hugo Boss jacket test: agents vs manual search

16:40 Agents should talk to your finance agent

17:14 Kids + deepfakes: what even looks real anymore?

18:04 Is this corrosive to apps… or the web?

19:10 Online identity, anonymity, and agent verification

20:28 Two futures: human-first brands vs agent-first retail

21:19 Agentic browsers on your device: can they “look like you”?

22:51 Baseball vs golf: the best analogy for search now

24:44 Instant shopping problem: returns + missing “services layer”

26:10 AI weirdness: wrong names, wrong locations, shifting behavior

27:37 Agents beyond shopping: support is the sleeper win

29:49 Inventing the future: who adopts agents and who won’t

31:13 Will people get tired of AI and crave humans again?

31:45 Serendipity vs optimization: the restaurant debate

32:36 Wrap: nobody solved agents… but the shift is real

AI has mastered language, sort of. But the real world is way messier.

In this episode of TechFirst, John Koetsier sits down with Kirin Sinha, founder and CEO of Illumix, to explore what comes after large language models: world models, spatial intelligence, and physical AI.

They unpack why LLMs alone won’t get us to human-level intelligence, what it actually takes for machines to understand physical space, and how technologies born in augmented reality are now powering robotics, wearables, and real-world AI systems.

This conversation goes deep on:

• What “world models” really are — and why everyone from Fei-Fei Li to Jeff Bezos is betting on them

• Why continuous video and outward-facing cameras are so hard for AI

• The perception stack behind robots and smart glasses

• Edge vs cloud compute — and why latency and privacy matter more than ever

• How AR laid the groundwork for the next generation of physical intelligence

If you’re building or betting on robotics, smart wearables, AR, or physical AI, this episode explains the infrastructure shift that’s already underway.

Guest

Kirin Sinha

Founder & CEO, Illumix

https://www.illumix.com

👉 Subscribe for more deep conversations on technology, AI, and the future:

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00:00 Raising the Bar on “Smart” Devices

01:07 Meet Kirin, Founder & CEO of Illumix

01:21 What Is a World Model — and Why It Matters

02:23 Why LLMs Alone Won’t Lead to AGI

03:46 From AR & the Metaverse to Physical AI

05:18 AR vs VR vs the Metaverse — Different Problems, Different Futures

06:32 Spatial Perception, Scene Understanding, and Contextual Intelligence

07:39 Why Continuous Video Is So Hard for Machines

08:39 The Camera Flip: From Selfie AI to World-Facing AI

09:58 Why Cameras Beat LiDAR for Wearables and Robots

10:27 Inside the Perception Stack

11:20 Edge vs Cloud Compute in Physical AI

12:37 Why On-Device Intelligence Matters for UX

13:52 SLMs, Efficiency, and the Limits of “Bigger Is Better”

15:11 Knowing What to Run — and When

16:06 Intent, Memory, and Real-Time AI Decisions

17:32 Physical Intelligence vs Digital Intelligence

18:39 Memory Palaces, Spatial Brains, and Human AI

19:39 Do We Need New Chips for Humanoid Robots?

20:26 How Chip Architectures Will Evolve for Physical AI

21:47 Privacy, On-Device Processing, and Trust

22:48 Final Thoughts on the Future of World-Aware AI

Quantum computers usually mean massive machines, cryogenic temperatures, and isolated data centers. But what if quantum computing could run at room temperature, fit inside a server rack — or even a satellite?

In this episode of TechFirst, host John Koetsier sits down with Marcus Doherty, Chief Science Officer of Quantum Brilliance, to explore how diamond-based quantum computers work — and why they could unlock scalable, edge-deployed quantum systems.

Marcus explains how nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond act like atomic-scale qubits, enabling long coherence times without extreme cooling. We dive into quantum sensing, quantum machine learning, and why diamond fabrication — including the world’s first commercial quantum diamond foundry — could be the key to manufacturing quantum hardware at scale.

You’ll also hear how diamond quantum systems are already being deployed in data centers, how they could operate in vehicles and satellites, and what the realistic roadmap looks like for logical qubits and real-world impact over the next decade.

Topics include:

• Why diamonds are uniquely suited for quantum computing

• How NV centers work at room temperature

• Quantum sensing vs. quantum computing

• Manufacturing challenges and timelines

• Quantum computing at the edge (satellites, vehicles, sensors)

• The future of hybrid classical-quantum systems

⸻

🎙 Guest

Marcus Doherty

Chief Science Officer, Quantum Brilliance

Professor of Quantum Physics

Army Reserve Officer

🌐 https://quantumbrilliance.com

⸻

👉 Subscribe for more deep dives into the future of technology:

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⸻

00:00 Diamonds and the next wave of quantum computing

01:20 Why diamond qubits work at room temperature

03:20 NV centers explained: defects that behave like atoms

05:05 How diamonds replace massive quantum isolation systems

06:40 Building the world’s first quantum diamond foundry

08:30 Defect-free diamonds, isotopes, and qubit engineering

10:15 Quantum sensing vs. quantum computing with diamonds

12:40 From desktop quantum systems to millions of qubits

14:25 Roadmap: logical qubits, timelines, and scale

16:10 Quantum computers at the edge: vehicles and satellites

18:10 Quantum machine learning and real-world deployments

19:50 The long game: why diamond quantum computing scales

Will AI kill your job?

What happens to your job as AI gets smarter and companies keep laying people off even while profits rise? Will you still have a job? Will the job you have change beyond recognition?

Scary questions, no?

In this episode of TechFirst, host John Koetsier sits down with Nikki Barua, co-founder of Footwork and longtime founder, executive, and resiliency expert, to unpack what work really looks like in the age of AI.

Layoffs are no longer just about economic downturns. Companies are growing, innovating, and still cutting staff, often because AI is enabling more output with less capacity.

So what does that mean for you?

Nikki argues the future doesn’t belong to those who simply “learn AI tools,” but to agentic humans: people who lead with uniquely human strengths and use AI to amplify their impact. This conversation explores:

• Why today’s layoffs are different from past cycles

• How AI is compressing jobs before creating new ones

• What it means to move from doing work to directing outcomes

• Why identity, curiosity, and agency matter more than certifications

• How to rethink workflows instead of chasing shiny AI tools

• The FLIP framework: Focus, Leverage, Influence, and Power

This episode isn’t about fear.

It’s about reinvention.

If you’re wondering how to stay relevant, valuable, and resilient as AI reshapes work, this is the place to start.

Guest

Nikki Barua

Co-founder, Footwork

(Reinventing organizations with agentic AI)

👉 Subscribe for more conversations on AI, work, and the future of technology:

https://techfirst.substack.com

Chapters:

00:00 — Work in the AI Age: what happens to your job?

01:05 — Layoffs, AI, and why this cycle feels different

02:55 — “Don’t let AI have the last laugh”

04:45 — Profitable companies cutting jobs: what’s really happening

06:40 — The next 18–24 months: compression before reinvention

08:30 — AI’s impact on young workers and early careers

10:00 — What should you be doing right now?

11:20 — Why surface-level AI use won’t save your job

12:40 — The rise of the “agentic human”

14:20 — From doing to directing: humans + machines as partners

15:55 — Why certifications and training aren’t enough

17:10 — High-agency people win in the AI age

18:35 — The FLIP framework: Focus and identity

20:00 — Leverage: compounding capacity beyond automation

21:20 — Influence: trust, authenticity, and scaled impact

22:25 — Power: upgrading your personal operating system

23:40 — Two shifts that make this AI revolution different

25:05 — Tools vs workflows: where most people get it wrong

26:25 — The real blocker: old identities and fear of change

27:40 — Three steps to stay relevant in the AI age

28:40 — Final thoughts + wrap-up

What if someone actually built TARS from Interstellar—and discovered it really could work?

In this episode of TechFirst, host John Koetsier sits down with Aditya Sripada, a robotics engineer at Nimble, who turned a late-night hobby into a serious research project: a real, working mini-version of TARS, the iconic robot from Interstellar.

Aditya walks through why TARS’s strange, flat form factor isn’t just cinematic flair—and how it enables both walking and rolling, one of the most energy-efficient ways for robots to move. We dive into leg-length modulation, passive dynamics, rimless wheel theory, and why science fiction quietly shapes real robotics more than most engineers admit.

Along the way, Aditya explains what he learned by challenging his own assumptions, how the project connects to modern humanoid and warehouse robots, and why reliability—not flash—is the hardest problem in robotics today. He also previews his next ambitious project: building a real-world version of Baymax, exploring soft robotics and safer human-robot interaction.

This is a deep, accessible conversation at the intersection of science fiction, physics, and real-world robotics—and a reminder that sometimes the ideas we dismiss as “impossible” just haven’t been built yet.

⸻

Guest

Aditya Sripada

Robotics Engineer, Nimble

Researcher in legged locomotion, humanoids, and unconventional robot form factors

⸻

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe for more deep dives into technology, robotics, and innovation:

👉 https://techfirst.substack.com

⸻

Chapters:

00:00 – TARS in Real Life: Why Interstellar’s Robot Still Fascinates Us

01:00 – Why Building TARS Seemed Physically Impossible

02:00 – From Weekend Hobby to Serious Robotics Research

03:00 – How Science Fiction Quietly Shapes Real Robot Design

04:00 – Walking vs Rolling: Why TARS Uses Both

05:00 – Why Simple Robots Can Beat Complex Humanoids

06:00 – Turning Legs into a Wheel: The Rolling Mechanism Explained

07:00 – Leg-Length Modulation and Passive Dynamics

08:00 – Inside the Actuators: Degrees of Freedom and Compact Design

09:00 – Why TARS’s Arms Don’t Really Make Sense

10:30 – Lessons Learned: Never Dismiss “Impossible” Ideas

12:00 – Rimless Wheels, Gaits, and Robotics Theory

13:00 – What This Project Taught Him at Nimble

14:00 – What “Super-Humanoid” Robots Actually Mean

15:30 – Why Reliability Matters More Than Flashy Demos

16:30 – TARS as a Research Platform, Not a Product

17:30 – From TARS to Baymax: Exploring Soft Robotics

19:00 – Can We Build Safer, Friendlier Humanoid Robots?

20:30 – What’s Next: Recreating Baymax in Real Life

21:30 – Final Thoughts and Wrap-Up

AI is already reshaping the workforce. What about teenagers?

Turns out, they might be more impacted than anyone else. After all, they're usually in low-skill entry-level jobs that AI can replace. The problem ... teens are losing their first experience with working, making money, and establishing an identity outside of their homes.

In this episode of TechFirst, host John Koetsier speaks with Karissa Tang, a high school senior and UCLA research assistant, about her new study on how AI will impact teen employment. While most workforce studies focus on adults, Karissa analyzed the top 10 most popular teen jobs from cashiers to fast food workers and found something alarming: AI could reduce teen employment by nearly 30% by 2030.

We dig into:

• Which teen jobs are most vulnerable to AI and automation

• Why cashiers and fast-food counter workers are hardest hit

• The role of self-checkout, kiosks, and robots like Flippy

• Which teen jobs appear safest (for now)

• Why teens may be even more exposed to AI than adults

• What schools, policymakers, and teens themselves can do next

This is a must-watch conversation for parents, students, educators, and policymakers trying to understand how AI is reshaping early work experiences—and what it means for the next generation.

🎙 Guest

Karissa Tang

• Founder, Booted (board games company)

• Research Assistant, UCLA

• Former Intern, NSV Wolf Capital

• High school senior and author of a 20-page research paper on AI & teen employment

📌 Subscribe & Stay Ahead

If you want clear, thoughtful analysis on AI, technology, and the future of work, subscribe to TechFirst:

👉 https://techfirst.substack.com

00:00 – Will AI Kill Teen Jobs?

01:35 – Why a Teen Studied Teen Employment

03:10 – The Shocking 30% Job Loss Prediction

05:10 – Top 10 Teen Jobs Most at Risk

07:20 – Cashiers, Kiosks, and Self-Checkout

09:40 – Fast Food, Retail, and AI Displacement

12:15 – Which Teen Jobs Are Safest from AI

15:05 – Robots Like Flippy and the Future of Cooking Jobs

18:00 – Why Teen Jobs Are More Vulnerable Than Adult Jobs

21:40 – The Importance of Human Interaction at Work

25:10 – What Inspired the Research Study

29:30 – How the Data and Methodology Worked

33:40 – What Teens Can Do to Stay Employable

37:30 – Skills, AI Literacy, and Creating New Opportunities

41:00 – Final Thoughts on the Future of Teen Work

Are we about to create real life Terminators? Humanoid robots built for war?

In this episode of TechFirst I talk with Sankaet Pathak, founder and CEO of Foundation, a California-based humanoid robot company that is not afraid of the defense market. We dig into why he is building humanoid robots that can work three shifts a day, how they plan to scale from dozens of robots to tens of thousands, and why he believes humanoid robots will one day build bases in Antarctica and cities on the moon.

We also dive deep into military use cases. From logistics and infrastructure to “first body in” building breach operations, we explore how humanoid robots could change asymmetric warfare, deterrence, and who wins future conflicts.

In this episode

• Why humanoid robots are the next strategic advantage for countries and companies

• How Foundation went from zero to a working production robot in about 18 months

• The hardware secrets behind Phantom: actuators, efficiency, and safety

• Why their robots can run almost 24 hours a day, three shifts at a time

• The master plan: Antarctic bases, moon cities, and infinite robot labor

• Why Sankaet thinks home robots should feel like a “genie in a bottle”

• How humanoid robots may enter military operations and what that means for war

• Whether robot soldiers lead to dominance, stalemate, or new forms of peace

Guest: Sankaet Pathak, founder and CEO of Foundation

Website: https://foundation.bot

Subscribe to my Substack:

https://techfirst.substack.com

00:00 – Are we about to build real life Terminators?

00:55 – Meet Sankaet Pathak and Foundation

02:08 – How Foundation built a production humanoid in 18 months

04:17 – Scaling plan: 40 robots today, 10,000 next year, 40,000 after

06:11 – Why manufacturing is still mostly manual and what they learned from Tesla

09:31 – The Foundation master plan: Antarctica, the moon, and infinite labor

14:21 – Phantom specs: size, strength, payload, and real factory work

15:36 – Actuators as robot muscles and why backdrivability matters

18:41 – Running three shifts a day and solving heat and durability

21:01 – Robot hands today and the tendon driven hands of tomorrow

23:40 – Why home robots should feel like a “genie in a bottle”

25:51 – Why the military needs humanoid robots

27:54 – Dangerous, boring, and impossible jobs robots should take over

29:22 – Drones, costs, and asymmetric warfare

32:18 – First body in and robots that can pull the trigger

33:16 – The future of war as “video game” and who wins

34:49 – Peace through strength and 100,000 robots as deterrent

35:22 – Final thoughts and what comes next for Foundation

Is AI the secret sauce that lets the West deglobalize supply chains and bring factories back home?

In this episode of TechFirst, I talk with Federico Martelli, CEO and cofounder of Forgis, a Swiss startup building an industrial intelligence layer for factories. Forgis runs “digital engineers” — AI agents on the edge — that sit on top of legacy machinery, cut downtime by about 30%, and boost production by roughly 20%, without ripping and replacing old hardware.

We dive into how AI agents can turn brainless factory lines into adaptive, self-optimizing systems, and what that means for reshoring production to Europe and North America.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why intelligence is the next geopolitical frontier

• How AI agents can reshore manufacturing without making it more expensive

• Turning old, offline machines into data-driven, optimized systems

• The two-layer model: integration first, vertical intelligence second

• Why most manufacturing AI projects fail at integration, not algorithms

• How Forgis raised $4.5M in 36 hours and chose its lead investor

• Lean manufacturing 2.0: adding real-time data and AI to Toyota-style processes

• Why operators stay in the loop (and why full autonomy is a bad idea… for now)

• Rebuilding industrial ecosystems in Europe and North America, industry by industry

• What Forgis builds next with its pre-seed round and where industrial AI is headed

Guest:

👉 Federico Martelli, CEO & cofounder, Forgis (industrial intelligence for factories)

🔗 More on Forgis: https://forgis.com/

Host:

🎙 John Koetsier, TechFirst podcast

🔎 techfirst.substack.com

If you enjoy this conversation, hit subscribe, drop a comment about where you think factories of the future will live, and share this with someone thinking about reshoring or industrial AI.

00:00 – Intro: AI, deglobalization, and the battle for industrial power

01:20 – Why intelligence is the next geopolitical frontier

02:13 – Applying AI agents to legacy machinery (not just new robots)

03:10 – Integration first, intelligence second: the “digital engineers” layer

03:58 – Early results: +20% production, –30% downtime

05:39 – The Palantir-style model: deep factory work, then recurring licenses

06:28 – Raising $4.5M in 36 hours and choosing Redalpine

08:17 – Lean manufacturing, Toyota, and giving operators superpowers (not replacing them)

10:18 – Big picture: reshoring production to Europe, the US, and Canada

12:48 – Competing with China’s dense manufacturing ecosystems

15:29 – What Forgis’ digital engineers actually do on the shop floor

17:06 – How Forgis will use the pre-seed round: sales, product, then tech

18:32 – Flipping the traditional stack: sales → product → tech

19:22 – Wrap-up and what’s next for industrial intelligence