Physical AI’s bottleneck shifts from what robots can do to whether factories trust them

What happened

AI is moving beyond the data centers (a building full of computers that runs online services) where models are trained and onto factory floors where machines must handle constant change. But traditional industrial robots work behind a cage, repeat a single task and were never designed for the complexities of today’s market.

Manufacturers now want general-purpose machines that can switch tasks and improve as […] The post Physical AI’s bottleneck shifts from what robots can do to whether factories trust them appeared first on SiliconANGLE . UPDATED 08:57 EDT / OCTOBER 05 2026 AI Physical AI’s bottleneck shifts from what robots can do to whether factories trust them by Ryan Stevens AI is moving beyond the data centers where models are trained and onto factory floors where machines must handle constant change.

Manufacturers now want general-purpose machines that can switch tasks and improve as processes evolve. The hard part is deploying it, according to Adrien Gaidon (pictured, right), co-founder and chief strategy officer of Walden Robotics Inc.

“If you’re changing things and you have machines that cannot change and continuously learn in deployment, then you become a burden,” Gaidon said. They discussed how cloud infrastructure, simulation and human assistance help robots learn and adapt on factory floors. Its robots have worked full production shifts alongside people since May.