Top AI & Robotics News You May Have Missed In April

E-commerce meets AI: Shopify (SHOP) and OpenAI are deepening their ties to bring native shopping capabilities directly into ChatGPT, a move poised to transform online retail and enhance merchant capabilities.

Satellite Internet Race: Amazon (AMZN) launched the first batch of production satellites for its Project Kuiper constellation, aiming to rival Starlink in providing global broadband internet access.

Code Generation Gains: Both Alphabet (GOOG) and Microsoft (MSFT) reported that a significant percentage of their internal code is now being generated by AI, illustrating AI’s increasing role in software development.

Autonomous Driving Expansion: Waymo, a division of Alphabet, and Toyota (TM) are exploring an expanded partnership focusing on integrating self-driving technology into vehicles.

Securing AI: Palo Alto Networks (PANW) announced its intent to acquire Protect AI to bolster its cybersecurity offerings, specifically for AI and Machine Learning models and applications. The following day, they announced a new partnership with AT&T (T), further expanding their reach in enterprise security.

App Ecosystem Impact: A significant ruling in the Apple vs. Epic Games lawsuit could reshape mobile app monetization. While Apple (AAPL) is not included in any ROBO Global indices, this ruling could potentially benefit other players in the digital space, including companies like Spotify (SPOT).

Shopify, Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, Palo Alto Networks, and Spotify are included in the THNQ Index.

A leader in e-commerce platforms known for its focus on merchant success and adopting new technologies, Shopify is strategically partnering with OpenAI. This collaboration aims to weave shopping directly into the conversational interface of ChatGPT. The vision is to allow users to discover products, get personalized recommendations, and potentially complete purchases without leaving the chat environment.

By leveraging Shopify’s robust e-commerce infrastructure and merchant network, OpenAI can add a powerful transactional layer to its AI, while Shopify merchants gain a significant new channel to reach consumers in an increasingly conversational digital landscape. This move is seen as potentially transformative for online commerce, moving beyond traditional search and browse models toward a more integrated, AI-assisted buying experience. 

The competition in the satellite internet sector intensified in April, as Amazon successfully launched the first 27 production satellites for its Project Kuiper constellation. The satellites were sent into low-Earth orbit aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral on April 28.

This launch represents a critical step for Amazon’s ambitious plan to build a network of over 3,200 satellites designed to provide global broadband internet access, directly competing with SpaceX’s Starlink. Amazon is required by the FCC to deploy at least 578 satellites to begin commercial service, meaning more launches will follow as they work towards building out the full constellation and bringing their low-latency internet service online.

Major tech companies are increasingly leveraging AI internally, particularly in software development. Both Alphabet (the parent company of Google) and Microsoft reported in April that a substantial percentage of their codebase is now being generated or assisted by AI. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella indicated that between 20% and 30% of the code within Microsoft’s repositories is now AI-generated. Similarly, Google/Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai stated that over 25% of new code at Google is written by AI. 

These figures demonstrate the growing impact of AI coding assistants and generative AI models on developer productivity and the software development lifecycle within these tech giants. The trend suggests a significant shift in how software is built, with predictions from other tech leaders, like Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, suggesting that AI could be responsible for half of development work in the coming years. We believe this leads to an argument that the focus on tools and observation technologies that help humans manage AI development and security will outpace the general economy. 

Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving technology company, and Toyota are exploring a significant expansion of their strategic partnership, as announced in late April. The collaboration, which also involves Toyota’s innovation arm, Woven by Toyota, aims to integrate Waymo’s advanced autonomous driving technology, the “Waymo Driver,” into a wider range of Toyota vehicles.

This includes potentially adding Toyota vehicles to Waymo’s growing ride-hailing fleet and exploring ways to incorporate self-driving capabilities into personally owned Toyota cars in the future. The partnership leverages Waymo’s expertise in autonomous systems and Toyota’s deep knowledge of vehicle manufacturing and safety. This move signifies a commitment from both companies to accelerate the development and deployment of autonomous vehicle technology. They share a with a shared vision of improving road safety and expanding access to autonomous transportation.

As the use of AI models and applications proliferates, the need for specialized AI security solutions is rapidly growing. On April 28, cybersecurity leader Palo Alto Networks announced its definitive agreement to acquire Protect AI. Project AI focuses on securing the AI/Machine Learning lifecycle. 

The acquisition is intended to enhance Palo Alto Networks’ capabilities in protecting against AI-specific threats, such as model manipulation, data poisoning, and prompt injection attacks. By integrating Protect AI’s technology and expertise, Palo Alto Networks plans to strengthen its Prisma AIRS platform. That platform aims to provide comprehensive security for AI systems from development through runtime. This acquisition highlights the increasing focus within the cybersecurity industry on addressing the unique vulnerabilities and risks associated with AI technologies.

A significant legal decision in the ongoing lawsuit between Apple and Epic Games in April 2025 has potentially wide-ranging implications for the digital economy, including companies that offer AI-powered services and applications. The ruling requires Apple to allow developers to direct users to alternative payment methods outside the App Store and prohibits Apple from taking a commission on those external transactions. 

This decision could alter the economics for developers distributing software on mobile platforms, potentially making it more favorable to monetize applications outside of Apple’s ecosystem. While not directly an AI or robotics company, a ruling that benefits developers and alters the dynamics of app distribution could indirectly benefit companies like Spotify, which relies heavily on mobile platforms for distribution and user engagement, and whose ability to monetize its service could be impacted by such changes in platform rules.

Obviously, this isn’t all that happened over the past month in the space. New state-of-the-art AI models were released, tariff and chip geopolitical negotiations took place, and more. However, as our  highlights from April 2025 clearly show, the engines of AI and robotics innovation continue to roar forward. They often chart their course independent of the geopolitical currents or market noise that might dominate the daily news cycle. From bringing AI directly into our shopping experiences and launching constellations to connect the globe, to enhancing healthcare, building safer autonomous systems, and fiercely defending the digital frontier, progress is being made on multiple fronts simultaneously.

Policy debates and market dynamics certainly play a role. However, the fundamental drive to create more intelligent machines and automated systems persists. This relentless pursuit of advancement across diverse applications underscores a powerful, underlying trend. The future is being built, piece by piece, breakthrough by breakthrough, by companies pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in artificial intelligence and robotics, regardless of the external static.

ROBO is the underlying index for the ROBO Global Robotics & Automation ETF (ROBO). THNQ is the underlying index for the ROBO Global Artificial Intelligence ETF (THNQ).

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