Robot brain builders are pushing out of their GPT-2 era
Robotics labs are finally moving past GPT-2-era models. Here's what that means for embodied AI.
Why it matters
Embodied AI (robots) has been bottlenecked by outdated language models. A shift toward frontier-capable reasoning and multimodal models is unlocking new capabilities in physical autonomy — this matters for practitioners building or deploying robotic systems.
The key facts
5 to knowRobot systems have relied on GPT-2-class models for reasoning and planning
Robotics labs now adopting newer frontier models for embodied AI
Model capability gap has been a limiting factor in robot autonomy and task complexity
Multimodal and reasoning-capable models enabling richer sensor-to-action pipelines
Timing: August 2026 — reflects industry-wide shift in model adoption across robotics
Go to the source
TechCrunch AItechcrunch.com
Publisher excerpt: Robot bodies are waiting for their AI brains to catch up.