Ex-Tesla engineer Remi Cadene unveiled plans to build an AI robot to automate industrial processes amid a decline in the working-age population, targeting Europe first.
The humanoid robot, called “Northstar,” will be used in manufacturing plants, logistics warehouses, and homes, Cadene revealed at the Machina Summit on Tuesday in Paris, France.
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“Labor costs are very high and, given the demographic trends, there will be significant demand,” he said, in reference to the continent’s aging population.
released Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (AP Photo)
The lightweight robot is expected to weigh 40 kilograms (88 pounds) so it can safely interact with humans, and will be trained to use real-time learning technology, learning a skill by watching a demo and eventually improving at it, according to Bloomberg.
“This is how a child learns to tie his shoelaces, first by being taught how to do it, then improving by practicing,” Cadene said.
Advanced tech and AI companies, including Tesla, are already funding AI projects and improving robotic capabilities to preemptively build a scalable, highly cost-effective labor supply before predictable demographic aging shrinks the global human workforce.
In the European Union, for example, the working-age population continues to decline, and the share of older adults is on the rise, prompting European startups such as Genesis in France and Neura Robotics in Germany to invest in these technologies.
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Cadene is himself the CEO and co-founder of a Paris-based startup called UMA, which develops general-purpose AI and humanoid robots. Before founding the startup, he worked on Elon Musk’s driver-assistance system, Autopilot, and the Optimus humanoid robot.
UMA aims to showcase a proof of concept by the end of the year, using wheels rather than legs, and is already in talks with 50 potential customers about use cases for the AI robot.
