The Robots Are Coming… Again! Tech Giants Re-Announce 2005’s Greatest Hits

2 Minute Read

Quadrupeds on hooves, exosuits for every body, and robo-cabs that still follow you with an empty seatbelt beep.

Remember when Boston Dynamics’ BigDog wowed the internet in 2005? Well, Kawasaki just rebooted the concept with CORLEO, a four-legged robot sporting hooves that trot, climb, and—wait for it—project disco-light footprints on the ground for “nighttime rides.” After twenty years of R&D, we’ve apparently arrived at… ambient hoof-glow.

Google’s DeepMind division is also here to revive the past with Gemini Robotics On-Device, a locally-run AI model that helps robots see, talk, and act all at once. It’s branded as “edge AI,” but to anyone who remembers mid-2000s robotics forums, it sounds suspiciously like “run the same vision stack, but now it fits on a chip.”

Meanwhile, exoskeletons are trending again. Articles proclaim they’re about to “redefine human potential,” just as they did in Wired Magazine two decades ago. The difference now? AI-enhanced gait tracking and sleeker carbon fiber shells. But the pitch remains the same: wearable strength, a better back, and probably a pulled muscle during beta testing.

Then there’s the robotaxi resurrection. 🤦‍♂️

Tesla has finally released a dozen driverless Model Ys in Austin, priced at exactly $4.20 per ride (because branding). The vehicles operate without drivers—unless you count the human safety monitors still inside them. Over at Waymo, they've quietly expanded to over 1,500 fully autonomous minivans, while Tesla’s announcement somehow triggered another 8-point stock rally. All of this would be wildly impressive—if Ford hadn’t already tested robotic shuttles back in 2005 using off-the-shelf LiDAR and duct tape.

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