Researchers built a soft floating robot for indoor interaction. It uses helium and flapping fins instead of propellers. The result is quiet, lightweight, and safe to touch. It can follow people, give reminders, and act as a study buddy. Published at ACM DIS 2026.

Here are some questions I wish "Pause" and "Stop" advocates would address: 1. Assuming we achieve the desired policy goal through a bilateral US/China agreement, what would be the specific metric or objective we would say needs to be satisfied in advance? Who decides whether we have satisfied them? What if one one party believes we have satisfied them but the other does not? 2. If the goal is achieved through a bilateral US/China agreement, would we need capital controls to ensure that U.S. investors cannot fund semiconductor fabs, data centers, or AI research labs in countries other than the U.S. and China? 3. Would we need to revoke the passports of U.S.-based AI researchers and semiconductor engineers to prevent them leaving America to join AI-related ventures elsewhere? How else would the U.S. and China keep researchers within their borders? 4. How should we grapple with the fact that (2) and (3) are common features of autocratic regimes? 5. Do the above questions mean that this really should be a global agreement, signed by all countries on Earth, or at least those with the theoretical ability to host large-scale data centers (probably Vanuatu doesn't need to be on board)?