Iván Hernández Dalas: Plug-and-Play AI: Transforming robotics with modular skills

Episode 234 of The Robot Report Podcast features  Dinesh Narayanan, Head of Commercialization, General Robotics.

Headshot of Dinesh Narayanan.

Dinesh Narayanan, Head of Commercialization, General Robotics.

Dinesh shared insights into the founding of General Robotics, highlighting the transition from Microsoft and the development of their proprietary platform, GRID.

This platform aims to streamline the deployment and scaling of robotics solutions by integrating simulation, AI models, and deployment pipelines.

Dinesh emphasized the importance of adaptability in AI techniques and the company’s focus on providing rapid prototyping and deployment capabilities.

The conversation also touched on the potential of humanoid robots and the role of GRID in facilitating their development.

Dinesh concluded by discussing the company’s business model and future aspirations, drawing parallels to the impact of platforms like AWS and Azure in the tech industry.

Show timeline

  • 6:10 – News of the week
  • 25:10 – Dinesh Narayanan, Head of Commercialization, General Robotics

News of the week

Waymo robotaxi fails to stop for school bus in Austin

This overhead illustration of the incident shows the location of the Waymo vehice (ADS-V) and the stopped school bus.

This overhead illustration of the incident shows the location of the Waymo vehicle (ADS-V) and the stopped school bus. | Credit: NTSB

  • Federal investigators have launched a probe into Waymo after a remote operator’s error caused a self-driving taxi to illegally pass a stopped school bus in Austin, marking the latest in a series of safety violations involving the company’s autonomous fleet.
  • While the autonomous driving technology is marketed as a way to eliminate human error, this specific incident reveals a “human-in-the-loop” failure. The vehicle did exactly what it was supposed to do: it stopped and asked for help. But the safety net failed when the remote human operator gave it the green light to proceed illegally.
  • The incident in question took place on January 12, 2026, about 7:55 a.m. Central Standard Time. According to the NTSB, a 2024 Jaguar I-Pace sport utility vehicle, equipped with an ADS and operated by Waymo LLC, passed a 2025 Thomas Built school bus, operated by Austin Independent School District (Austin ISD), loading student passengers in Austin, Travis County, Texas.
  • What makes this situation chilling is that, according to the report, the autonomous vehicle stopped and asked its human safety operator: “Is this a school bus with active signals?” The human remote agent responded “No”.

Fortune highlights research illustrating the link between minimum wage hikes and automation adoption

  • Interesting post by Fortune featuring research on a purported relationship between minimum wage hikes and increased automation interest in manufacturers.
  • Quote from the article: “The central finding is precise and consistent: A 10% increase in the minimum wage is associated with an approximately 8% increase in the likelihood a manufacturing firm will adopt industrial robots, relative to the average adoption rate in the sample.​”
  • “Firms subject to higher minimum wages are more likely to adopt robots,” the authors wrote, “even after controlling for observable firm and local economic characteristics.”
  • The research does not make any conclusions about whether workers lose their jobs as a result of the wage hike or robot installation. ​
  • The study focuses on the relationship between minimum wage increases and the likelihood of robot adoption by manufacturing firms. ​
  • While it acknowledges that robots may alter the structure of employment, especially in low-wage sectors, it explicitly states that the study does not consider labor outcomes, such as employment effects. ​
  • The authors suggest that future research could examine how robot adoption interacts with labor market institutions, worker outcomes, and firm performance over longer time horizons.
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