The World Economic Forum has named Hello Robot a 2026 Technology Pioneer, honoring the Martinez, California-based company for putting people at the center of physical AI. Hello Robot's Stretch mobile manipulator assists older adults and people with severe mobility impairments — a sharp contrast to an industry often focused on spectacle.
Robots That Are Simply Useful
Each year the Geneva-based forum selects 100 early-stage companies whose innovations are transforming business and society. “There has never been a more exciting time to push the boundaries of what technology can do for humanity. Some of the most meaningful innovations are those built around people,” said Verena Kuhn, head of innovator communities at the World Economic Forum, noting the Technology Pioneers program is now in its 26th year.
“The robotics world has spent years wowing us with highlight reels of machines doing the extraordinary. What's been missing from the frame is the person the robot is actually supposed to help,” said Aaron Edsinger, co-founder and CEO of Hello Robot. “Being named a WEF Technology Pioneer is a meaningful validation that the world is ready for robots that are simply useful.”
From Research Labs to Living Rooms
Founded in 2017 by Edsinger and Charlie Kemp — veterans of MIT, Google, and Georgia Tech — Hello Robot has deployed Stretch at hundreds of research, academic, and corporate sites. The company is also piloting the robot with individuals with quadriplegia, who control it through a mobile phone app to fetch a drink of water, feed themselves, or close the blinds — tasks that represent a profound increase in independence and agency.
Momentum for Assistive Robotics
Stretch 3 won an RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award for Robots for Good in 2025, and the company introduced the redesigned Stretch 4 in May 2026 as a faster, stronger open-source platform for developers. The recognition adds to growing momentum in assistive and rehabilitation robotics, from TEPI's exoskeleton for stroke rehabilitation to Cobot's Proxie Gen 2 mobile manipulator.
Reporting based on coverage from Business Wire and The Robot Report.