While everyone's finishing last year's leftovers, robots are shrinking to backpack size, Tesla drives coast-to-coast hands-free, and Andrew Ng proposes sending AI to work instead of chat-based tests.
🧠 AI & New Standards
- **Turing-AGI Test:** Andrew Ng [proposed](https://info.deeplearning.ai/) replacing the classic Turing test with an employability test. If AI can complete the tasks of a qualified employee (using a browser and software), it's AGI.
- **DeepSeek & Efficiency:** The Chinese lab [published](https://links.tldrnewsletter.com/W5ppNq) a paper on *Manifold-Constrained Hyper-Connections* (mHC). This will allow models to train faster and cheaper. The R2 model release is expected in February.
- **Meta Acquires Manus:** Zuckerberg [paid](https://www.google.com/search?q=Meta+acquires+Manus+AI+agent+startup) $2B for the Manus startup. Their autonomous agent tech will likely soon appear in WhatsApp — so a bot can book a table or buy tickets for you.
- **OpenAI's Audio Ambitions:** The company is [reorganizing](https://www.theinformation.com/articles/openai-ramps-audio-ai-efforts-ahead-device) teams to build advanced audio models. Rumors of their own audio device, while they're hiring a safety lead at $550k+.
🤖 Hardware & Robots
- **Backpack Robot:** Startup AgiBot [unveiled](https://x.com/CyberRobooo/status/2006941478476783923) Q1 — an 80cm-tall humanoid. It weighs 8x less than a regular robot, fits in a backpack, and helps with education (or dancing).
- **Terminator on Patrol:** In Shenzhen, an EngineAI robot was [spotted](https://x.com/MarioNawfal/status/2006383594885792215) patrolling streets alongside police. Looks like a frame from a cyberpunk movie.
- **Sensitive Skin:** Scientists [developed](https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2026/01/02/scientists-give-robots-skin-with-pain-sensations-and-human-like-reflexes/) electronic skin that gives robots a sense of pain and reflexes — the machine can now pull its hand away from danger faster than the signal reaches its "brain."
- **Tesla Coast-to-Coast:** David Moss [completed](https://interestingengineering.com/transportation/tesla-autonomous-trip-coast-to-coast) the world's first fully autonomous coast-to-coast trip across the USA (2,700 miles) in a Tesla with zero driver intervention.
🌐 Gadgets, Money & Space
- **"Soul Computer":** Startup Pickle [released](https://www.pickle.com/1) AR glasses Pickle 1. They remember your life's context and organize it into "memory bubbles" so you never forget anything.
- **SoftBank & OpenAI:** The Japanese conglomerate [transferred](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/30/softbank-openai-investment.html) the final investment tranche. Their total OpenAI investment has reached $40B, with their stake exceeding 10%.
- **Accessible Space:** Engineer Michaela Benthaus [became](https://www.blueorigin.com/news) the first person with lower-limb paralysis to make a suborbital flight on a Blue Origin spacecraft. A historic step for inclusivity in space exploration.