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Sanctuary AI Unveils Phoenix: A New Milestone in Humanoid Robots

ByAlki David

May 18, 2023

Robots have been the stuff of science fiction for decades, and it seems like every day we get closer to the day when they will become a reality. While some may consider it a golden age, one thing is for certain: humanoid robots have been coming out of the woodwork since Tesla announced its intentions to build one back in the summer of 2021.

Today, we’re taking a look at Sanctuary AI, a Vancouver-based firm that just unveiled Phoenix, its own stab at the humanoid robot form factor. The bipedal robot stands 5’7″ and weighs 155 pounds – making it not dissimilar from the humans it plans to augment (or replace, depending on who you ask).

Phoenix is designed to lift payloads up to 55 pounds and travel up to three miles per hour. But what really sets it apart is the complex hands with 20 degrees of freedom that rival human hand dexterity and fine manipulation. Its proprietary haptic technology mimics the sense of touch, making it ideally suited to performing delicate tasks that require the human touch.

Back in March, Sanctuary AI deployed Phoenix’s predecessor at a Mark’s retail store just outside of its native Vancouver. The fifth-generation system completed “110 retail-related [tasks], including front and back-of-store activities such as picking and packing merchandise, cleaning, tagging, labeling, folding and more.” The limited pilot lasted a week and was considered a great success.

While it’s still too early to say what the future holds for humanoid robots like Phoenix, it’s clear that they have the potential to change the way we live and work in profound ways. We may not be living in a golden age, but with companies like Sanctuary AI making steady progress, it feels like we’re inching ever closer.

By Alki David

Alki David — Publisher, Media Architect, SIN Network Creator - live, direct-to-public communication, media infrastructure, accountability journalism, and independent distribution. Born in Lagos, Nigeria; educated in the United Kingdom and Switzerland; attended the Royal College of Art. Early internet broadcaster — participated in real-time public coverage during the 1997 Mars landing era using experimental online transmission from Beverly Hills. Founder of FilmOn, one of the earliest global internet television networks offering live and on-demand broadcasting outside legacy gatekeepers. Publisher of SHOCKYA — reporting since 2010 on systemic corruption inside the entertainment business and its expansion into law, finance, and regulation. Creator of the SIN Network (ShockYA Integrated Network), a federated media and civic-information infrastructure spanning investigative journalism, live TV, documentary, and court-record reporting. Lived and worked for over 40 years inside global media hubs including Malibu, Beverly Hills, London, Hong Kong and Gstaad. Early encounter with Julian Assange during the first Hologram USA operations proved a formative turning point — exposing the realities of lawfare, information suppression, and concentrated media power. Principal complainant and driving force behind what court filings describe as the largest consolidated media–legal accountability action on record, now before the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. Relocated to Antigua & Barbuda and entered sustained legal, civic, and informational confrontation over media power, safeguarding, and accountability at Commonwealth scale.