Robotics and Frontier AI: Innovation, Safety, and Governance

Artificial intelligence and robotics are no longer separate fields moving on parallel tracks. They are increasingly converging into embodied systems that can see, listen, move, communicate, decide, and act in real-world environments. From hospitals, classrooms, factories, warehouses, homes, and public infrastructure, AI-enabled robots are becoming part of everyday life. This creates enormous opportunities for innovation, but it also raises urgent questions about safety, trust, regulation, and accountability.This Research Topic focuses on the governance of robotics in the age of frontier AI: how societies can encourage robotics innovation while protecting people, institutions, and critical infrastructure. Robotics governance differs across regions, with approaches emphasizing innovation and flexible regulation, risk-based oversight and transparency, or state-led strategic development, each shaping how robotic systems are developed, deployed, and trusted. These differences matter because AI embedded in robots operates physically and socially in the world, not only in software.Robots are not merely software systems; they are embodied AI systems. They interact with people, shape trust, gather data, influence decisions, and act in physical spaces. This makes transparency, auditing, human oversight, safety-by-design, and responsibility-by-design essential to their governance. This Research Topic invites interdisciplinary research on how robotics and the AI embedded within it can be developed, deployed, and governed responsibly, across social, industrial, healthcare, educational, and public-sector robotic systems.Submissions may address, but are not limited to, the following topics:• Robotics regulation and governance frameworks• Comparative approaches to robotics governance across world regions, and their effects on robotic system design and deployment• Safety, accountability, and responsible innovation in AI applied to robotic systems• Autonomous robotic systems and frontier AI deployment in real-world environments• Robotic deception, lying, and hallucination in embodied AI systems• Human-robot interaction and user trust• Cybersecurity and protection of robotic cyber-physical systems• Explainability, transparency, and auditing of robotic systems• Robots operating in or protecting critical infrastructure• Industrial robotics, automation, and workplace safety• Dual-use robotic systems: safety, security, resilience, and human oversight considerations (civilian and critical-infrastructure contexts)• AI regulation and comparative policy approaches (e.g. risk-based, innovation-led, or state-directed models) across jurisdictions• Governance and accountability frameworks for frontier AI systems, independent of a specific robotic embodiment• Standards, certification, and auditing regimes for AI systems operating in high-stakes or safety-critical domains• Legal and ethical frameworks for AI accountability, liability, and oversightBy bringing together robotics researchers, AI scholars, policy experts, legal scholars, ethicists, and cybersecurity specialists, this Research Topic aims to develop a practical, forward-looking conversation on how robotics and the AI within it can serve society while remaining safe, trustworthy, and accountable. Topic editors: Anshu Saxena Arora, Amit Arora, Monica Adya Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/85831/robotics-and-frontier-ai-innovation-safety-and-governance