Sunday, May 11, 2025

Image Credits: Qlik

What role will humans have in an AI- and robot-filled future?

Amazon offered hints about its vision for that future with this week's announcement about Vulcan robots that can "feel" and will be working in the company's warehouses. The company's blog post depicts a warehouse where most of the work gets done by robots, while a small number of humans become robot technicians.

Julie Bort discusses whether this is what most human jobs might eventually look like, serving as "automation monitors" supervising robots in the checkout line, the restaurant kitchen, and elsewhere. Maybe.

Keep reading to see what else TechCrunch is covering this weekend.

Weekend news and opinion

Image Credits: TechCrunch

The Backbone Pro controller takes mobile gaming to the next level: This successor to the Backbone One controller allows you to play iOS and Android games using joysticks and re-mappable buttons. And it doesn't need to be attached to a phone to work.

Biking with Ray-Ban Meta glasses: Maxwell Zeff, who's been taking these smart glasses on his weekend bike rides, reports that they've improved the experience in many ways — though he's more impressed by the camera than by Meta's AI assistant.

The semiconductor industry has had a busy 2025: Semiconductors are a key component of the AI race that the U.S. government is determined to win. This timeline recaps all the major developments from the year so far, from Joe Biden's proposed chip export restrictions to layoffs at Intel.

What else we're reading 📗

A recent ruling against Apple doesn't just mean the company will have to loosen its App Store restrictions. The New York Times explains that court filings reveal how Apple executives made decisions that a judge described as "willfully" disregarding her order. And that, in turn, could weaken Apple's credibility in future trials.

Also, New York magazine looks at college students who cheat using ChatGPT.