The real gap is now mechanical
Once several vendors can claim reasonable intelligence, the category stops being a model arms race and starts looking like an engineering execution race.
How a hand grasps, how a joint recovers, how a battery survives long sessions, and how a vision stack remains stable under motion all decide whether a robot becomes practical.
Small hardware choices create huge workflow differences
A slightly better sensor layout or actuator response can remove entire categories of failure. That changes how fast integrators trust the system and how often operators intervene.
This is why hardware reviews deserve a central place in AI media. They are no longer adjacent to the intelligence story. They are part of it.
Where coverage should go next
The next useful robotics coverage will compare stack maturity the way AI media once compared models: not just what exists, but what performs under repeated pressure.
That shift will expose which vendors are building durable systems and which are still dressing prototypes as products.
