The Engadget Podcast: Would You Trust a Terrifying Home Robot? This week on the Engadget Podcast, Devindra and Engadget’s Igor Bonafacic dive into the evolving world of home robotics, which is rapidly moving beyond simple vacuum cleaners like Roombas. The discussion was sparked by the unveiling of the NEO helper bot from robotics company 1X. This new machine, however, comes with a staggering price tag of $20,000 and a design that the hosts describe as reminiscent of a murderbot. The NEO is designed to perform basic tasks after being trained by the user, and can handle more complex chores through teleoperation, where a human controls it remotely. A significant part of the conversation revolves around the robot’s unsettling aesthetic and the practical future of such expensive and intimidating machines in the home. In a special segment, Devindra also speaks with John Gearty, a former Apple Vision Pro engineer and the founder of PulseJet Studios. Gearty offers his unique perspective on the current state of Apple’s mixed reality headset and the broader XR landscape, providing insider insight into the challenges and opportunities in the space. The podcast also covers several other major tech stories from the week. The team discusses the recent widespread outage experienced by Amazon Web Services (AWS). The incident, which Amazon attributed to an automation bug, raises critical questions about our collective over-reliance on a single cloud provider and the fragility of the internet’s underlying infrastructure. In other news, the hosts note that NVIDIA has made history by becoming the first company ever to reach a market capitalization of five trillion dollars, a testament to its dominant position in the AI chip market. The show also touches on OpenAI completing a corporate reorganization that clears a path for a potential future initial public offering (IPO). On the policy front, the episode examines the announcement from U.S. Customs and Border Protection regarding a new plan to photograph non-citizens entering the country as part of an expanded facial recognition program, a move that is sure to stir privacy debates. The Engadget team also highlights their own work, including Billy Steele’s review of the new Echo Studio 2025 smart speaker. The episode wraps up with the hosts and their guests sharing their personal pop culture recommendations. Listeners can subscribe to The Engadget Podcast on various platforms, including iTunes, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts.
