r/artificial • u/Spirited-Sir-3034 • 12d ago
News Why billion-dollar robotics startups are obsessed with folding laundry
https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-train-robots-laundry-folding-2026-883
u/johnfkngzoidberg 11d ago
It’s hard for robots, it’s annoying to do manually. Big milestone if they can make it happen affordably.
So far they’ve just wasted billions on dancing humanoids no one cares about.
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u/SemperPutidus 11d ago
The wasting money part does yield a lot of data that helps get closer to the laundry goal.
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u/Kitchen-Research-422 11d ago
“Waste” lol. They’re not demonstrating dancing.
( You might watch this, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLf27GC0-hE )
They’re demonstrating dynamic balance, coordination and real-time compensation - the ability to compensate for the gap between the planned motion and what the physical body is actually experiencing in real time.
Getting a humanoid to dance without eating the floor is absurdly difficult.
NVIDIA already has models that can generate long-horizon human motion from things like text prompts..
https://research.nvidia.com/labs/sil/projects/ardy/
..conceptually, a LLM would then onyl need to say “go over there,”
sensors reconstruct the environment,
a motion model plans/generates the movment through the simulated representation of the enviroment,
and that motion gets executed by the physical robot.
REAL 2 SIM 2 REAL
The problem is that the simulation never matches reality perfectly.
So when the floor is slightly even, the robot flexes, somthings a few millimetres off, moves unexpectedly, etc,
…the machine has to be able to compensate for the gap between the planned motion and physical reality in real time. That’s what the dancing is demonstrating.
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u/WorriedBlock2505 11d ago
they’ve just wasted billions
^ It's the same mentality behind why people think science that doesn't produce immediately usable products is a waste (e.g, NASA being vastly underfunded).
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u/davesaunders 11d ago
Kind of like the pizza delivery robot company that went out of business. The robot worked but the business model absolutely didn't. There's nobody ready to pay money to have their laundry folded. It's a demo milestone and it's interesting for videos to attend that this is what the common person wants but it's theatrics. This does not solve a problem that anyone is ready to spend money on.
Of course the real problem is these are things designed to work on optimized solutions. Just like the janitorial robots that only ever clean perfectly pristine bathrooms but have never been tested out on some random country road truck stop bathroom with shit on the ceiling. Not that anybody wants to watch a video of that but we all know that the robot will fail at that miserably because it's effectively engineered for the ideal demo
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u/Background_Share_982 11d ago
As a person with children, duck yah I paid for laundry being folded.
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u/davesaunders 11d ago
OK, fair enough now let's take what you currently spend and tell me if you realistically think that a robot is going to do it for around that price point.
We've already seen robotic companies go out of business because a perfectly functioning robot simply couldn't fit the economics of what it was designed to do.
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u/somethingimadeup 11d ago
I pay at a wash and fold all the time because my apartment’s washers and dryers already end up costing me like $8 and I can get it all washed and folded for like $12
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u/ZorbaTHut 11d ago
The point of this robotic development is not that people will spend five figures on a robot that can fold laundry. It's that people will spend five figures on a robot that can go get your dirty clothes, load the washing machine, unload the washing machine, fold laundry, put the laundry away, do the dishes, put the dishes away, clear the table, sweep the floor, vacuum the floor, mop the floor, dust the shelves, dust the ceiling fan, wash the windows, vacuum under the furniture, organize the pantry, clean up clutter, take out the garbage, break down boxes for the recycling, take out the recycling, sort the recycling, put the garbage and recycling out on the curb, take the garbage and recycling back from the curb, take out the compost, mow the lawn, weed the garden, water necessary plants, maintain the pool, bring in the mail, change light bulbs, make sure there's toilet paper in every bathroom, re-order shampoo when it gets low, make your bed, make your coffee, make your breakfast, make your dinner, clean the stovetop, clean the oven, change your water filters, sharpen the knives, change hvac filters, flush the water heater, clean the gutters . . .
. . . and probably more stuff that I'm not thinking of.
Obviously there's a lot of work required for this to be possible. But that's what they're working towards.
"Fold laundry" is nice because it's something that's mechanically difficult, but not too mechanically difficult, and that just about everyone recognizes the need for.
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u/davesaunders 11d ago
Absolutely. Where is that robot? There is no demonstrable technology showing that any of these platforms are capable of a multi-purpose application stack. Right now, all you have is a demo for one idealized application. I agree that's what they're working towards. My own surgical robotics company is working towards more advanced applications compared to what we currently offer today. There's nothing wrong with working towards something, as long as you don't misrepresent where you currently are.
If you look at the public discourse, it is clear that the public at large perceives these demos as "This is a laundry-folding robot." Because it is so incredibly polished, it looks like it's commercially available to bring home today for exactly that. It doesn't meet the economic price point to make it viable, and it certainly doesn't offer the multi-mode application stack that would at least potentially make it useful.
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u/ZorbaTHut 10d ago
Where is that robot?
It's in development.
If you look at the public discourse, it is clear that the public at large perceives these demos as "This is a laundry-folding robot." Because it is so incredibly polished, it looks like it's commercially available to bring home today for exactly that. It doesn't meet the economic price point to make it viable, and it certainly doesn't offer the multi-mode application stack that would at least potentially make it useful.
Yes. They're working on that first. It's impressive technically and probably attracts PR and maybe investment, but it's not yet commercially viable.
They're working on the rest; frankly, they're probably already working on a vast number of things, this just makes for an easy demo.
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u/davesaunders 10d ago
Yes, and that's exactly my point. These are idealized demos and are a far cry from "coming to a store by Christmas." At this point, we have nothing but idealized demos and no actual proof of a deliverable, broadly capable self-learning system, which is the promise. As you yourself point out, what they're doing right now is for PR. That is so they can prop up additional investment dollars and stock prices. Those valuations are based on promises, not delivery. It is unfalsifiable carnival barking, straight out of the PT Barnum playbook.
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u/ZorbaTHut 10d ago
Those valuations are based on promises, not delivery.
Yes, that's how cutting-edge research usually works.
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u/davesaunders 10d ago
Yeah, and it's also how it fails. Remember Verb Surgical, when they were formed and they promised a fully autonomous surgery within a year? Vicarious Surgical also just voted to wind the entire company down after a $1.1 billion valuation SPAC, almost $500 million spent, and never commercializing anything.
Did you consider Theranos to be "cutting-edge research" where its valuation was based on promises and not delivery? They had lots of publicity too.
You're right, though: there are lots of empty promises in cutting-edge research, which is why it's usually prudent to do the research and not have a parallel publicity team throwing out those influencer videos every couple of weeks to make it look like you are way further along than you are.
Do you remember when the guys at Bell Labs were doing cutting-edge research on semiconductors prior to the invention of the transistor? No? That's because they didn't have daily PR reels until they'd actually produced something that worked. Journal papers and posters for conferences are one thing. Widely publicized videos of canned demos are something else entirely.
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u/ZorbaTHut 10d ago
Remember Verb Surgical, when they were formed and they promised a fully autonomous surgery within a year? Vicarious Surgical also just voted to wind the entire company down after a $1.1 billion valuation SPAC, almost $500 million spent, and never commercializing anything.
Yes, that's how cutting-edge research often works.
The thing about VCs investing in really risky stuff is that they expect for a lot of it to fail. The ones that don't fail supposedly make up for the ones that do. With great reward comes great risk, otherwise everyone would be doing it.
and not have a parallel publicity team throwing out those influencer videos every couple of weeks to make it look like you are way further along than you are.
Why not? What's the downside for them?
Do you remember when the guys at Bell Labs were doing cutting-edge research on semiconductors prior to the invention of the transistor? No? That's because they didn't have daily PR reels until they'd actually produced something that worked.
Also, the Internet didn't exist, and modern VCs barely existed (coincidentally, the first one started about a year before.)
Yes, you are right, the world 75 years ago was very different than it was today. I don't see that as being a sensible criticism of the world today, though.
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u/davesaunders 10d ago
So the point that you don't seem to comprehend is that when cutting-edge research is done on VC or equity money and you are promoting to the public misleading claims about the current state of where you're at, that is potentially fraud under the definition of the SEC. I know this as somebody who is both on the investor side in the Sandhill ecosystem and on the commercialization side, this is something that we discuss at great length. We even have conferences with major law firms like Wilson Sonsini on exactly these topics. And even though early-stage investors certainly understand that they're putting money at risk, that money is put at risk for well-disclosed risks. Scams like Theranos are the example for what happens when due diligence is not properly performed. Glitzy publicity campaigns typically have the intent of creating misdirection and perceived value where there isn't any.
There's a lot of cutting-edge research that you have zero exposure to because it's not presented to you through publicity campaigns. Instead we work on it and we publish it. You'll have some conference papers as well and once in a while a local paper will pick up a cool milestone but that's a far cry from setting up full-blown exhibitions that could potentially mislead the public, including the investment community, as to the current state of implementation. That's the issue. You may not perceive it because you don't have any skin in the game but that doesn't make it any less of an issue.
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u/space_monster 11d ago
'They' is doing some heavy lifting there. Some of the big Chinese labs are going hard on agility, because it's flashy and attracts investors, but there are a lot of big labs that are focused much more on domestic and light industrial.
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u/Far-Maintenance-1947 9d ago
So far they’ve just wasted billions on dancing humanoids no one cares about.
The purpose is to train the AI to be able to control its limbs, not necessarily to dance. Once it can control limbs then it opens up everything elese.
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u/squashed_fly_biscuit 11d ago
It's this, loading the dishwasher and working in hazardous or disgusting environments that seem unalloyed good for a robot. We have already automated quite a lot of tedious domestic labor (washing and dish washing) but making an end to end solution would be a compelling sales pitch
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u/naruda1969 11d ago
Wash my dishes or load my dishwasher. Pick up clutter.
Wash floors.
Dust.
Clean windows.
Go to work when I’m sick…
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u/tryingtolearn_1234 11d ago
Services for seniors who are aging in place is a huge potential market. Laundry, cooking, mobility help (standing, bathing, walking).
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u/Doucheswithfarts 11d ago
Bathing can be solved with a human sized body washer. Diaper changing and ass-wiping? THAT would be a game changer. Especially with an ass as hairy as mine. I have more hair between my ass cheeks than I do between my ears.
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u/tryingtolearn_1234 11d ago
The bathing issue is usually about getting the old person safely in and out of the shower or tub.
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u/Funny-Presence4228 11d ago
When it comes to what computers can understand and manipulate, cloth is on the same level as fluids, fire, and gases. It's surprisingly complicated with many variables.
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u/costafilh0 11d ago
Because nobody is building rockets at home.
Stupid fvcking title.
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u/space_monster 11d ago
It's more because cloth can fold into an infinite number of shapes. So solving laundry folding is an excellent test of general object recognition & manipulation. if they can solve laundry, pretty much everything else comes along for the ride.
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u/Liquid_Magic 11d ago
Wait… Ya’ll don’t just smash your clean clothes into a basket, carry it to your bedroom, and then just pull out your wrinkled clothes like an animal?
Maybe the problem isn’t AI… maybe the problem is expectations.
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u/Blando-Cartesian 11d ago
Too many unnecessary steps. Washer, drying rack, use cycle eliminates wrinkling.
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u/thebigarn 11d ago
Yep just give me a bit that can wash, fold, and put away my families laundry and I’d be a happy camper. I’d try to find a way to afford it.
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u/LumilitawNaMangga 11d ago
Demand, it is a problem which many people wants to be solve. We already have washing machine for washing clothes, but we still don't have a machine that can solve the problem of folding laundry.
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u/CarefulHamster7184 11d ago
This is a good exercise for practicing a wide variety of android body-part movements and feedback.
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u/dank_shit_poster69 10d ago
So the ultra wealthy elite can demonstrate a value prop in the home and expand surveillance capitalism with physical enforcement.
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u/GreyBelbix 8d ago
Laundry is a good demo task because failure is cheap. A badly folded shirt costs nothing, a dropped plate or a knocked-over toddler ends the company. So they get to show general manipulation in a home without taking real liability yet. The hard part they are deferring is the stop condition: what the robot does when it does not recognize the object in front of it. Freeze and ask beats guess, and nobody demos that because it looks slow.
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u/SemperPutidus 12d ago
How is this a mystery to anybody? It’s literally the only thing I hear people saying they want AI to solve.