The hardware chapter of Stanford's annual AI Index report: data on AI chip performance, costs, and who controls the computing power behind modern AI.
Why I recommend it: Free to download. It's the institute's own synthesis, and some compute and investment figures come from data supplied by the companies being measured — the broad picture is reliable, the fine print less so.
Free daily-ish newsletter covering robotics developments — humanoid launches, self-driving expansion, home robots — written for a general technical audience by the Rundown team, with a stated readership of 300,000+.
Why I recommend it: Free and quick to skim if you want to know what robots are actually shipping rather than what is promised. Two honest limits: it summarises company announcements far more often than independent testing, so a capability claim in it is usually the manufacturer's own; and it publishes no public story feed, so it cannot be wired into the headlines here — you read it by subscribing.
Company site for TBC, a startup turning findings from experiments on real neurons into software intended to make AI models cheaper and more efficient to run. It announces a partnership with AWS to commercialise what it calls the world's first neuron-derived AI model, and offers early access through an application.
Why I recommend it: Free to read, and worth knowing this direction exists. But every claim here is the company's own marketing: there is no published paper, benchmark or independent test on the site, and "world's first" is their phrase, not a verified fact. Read it to learn the pitch, not to conclude it works.
The manufacturer's own pages for the humanoid and four-legged robots you keep seeing in viral videos — H2, G1, R1, A2, B2, Go2 and the L2 lidar unit. Each model page lists the specifications, dimensions, sensors and intended uses, and the news section posts the demonstration videos. This is the clearest free way to see what commercially available 'physical AI' hardware actually is, rather than what a clip implies.
Why I recommend it: Free to browse, and useful as a reality check when someone tells you robots are about to take every job — read the specifications, the battery life and the intended use. Two flags: this is a company selling its own products, so the videos are marketing and not independent testing, and the robots are expensive hardware, not something you can try. The site itself warns users not to modify the robots or use them in dangerous ways.
A free newsletter and news site for IT professionals from Morning Brew, published four times a week, covering cybersecurity, cloud, hardware, IT operations, software and the practical side of AI adoption inside companies. Stories are short, reported, and written from the perspective of the people who have to run the systems — patching, asset inventories, wi-fi troubleshooting, legacy migration — rather than the vendors selling to them. Also runs free virtual events and digital guides.
Why I recommend it: Free to read on the site and free to subscribe — the subscribe box asks for an email, but nothing is paywalled. This is one of the better free ways to learn the vocabulary of an IT job you have not had yet, because it covers the unglamorous work that interviews actually ask about. Two things to keep in mind: it is ad and sponsor funded, so sponsored posts sit alongside the reporting and you should check the byline and any 'presented by' line; and it is written for people already inside IT departments, so expect jargon on first read.
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An open-source platform for running coding agents such as Claude Code and Codex across your own machines and specialising them for domains like CAD, PCBs, robotics and games, with optional open hardware.
From the site: Follow your curiosity. Build across disciplines. Open-source software and hardware for polymaths in the making. - autonomous-ai/openharness
Why I recommend it: The software is free and open source. The agents you run inside it may cost money, and the companion hardware is a separate purchase — the repo itself is the free part.
Company building thermodynamic computing hardware it claims is far more energy efficient than GPUs.
From the site: Building thermodynamic computing hardware that is radically more energy efficient than GPUs.
Why I recommend it: The energy cost of AI is becoming the constraint, and this is one bet on solving it in hardware. The efficiency claims are the company's own and unproven at scale.
Beginner-friendly electronics tutorials from engineer and YouTube educator AfroTechMods, covering transistors, op-amps, soldering, and circuit debugging in plain language.
Why I recommend it: Great first stop if formal engineering courses lost you. Build one circuit, then go back to the theory.
Free electrical engineering reference library with textbooks, worked examples, technical articles, calculators, and an active forum covering everything from basic DC theory to embedded design.
Why I recommend it: If you are moving toward hardware, robotics, or manufacturing tech, their free textbooks are more useful than most paid courses.
Oracle's free educational program covering cloud architecture, enterprise systems, and a data center technician curriculum designed to move students directly into operations and frontline hardware and infrastructure roles.
Why I recommend it: Free curriculum and cloud practice environments. Useful for the digital side of data center work: systems administration and hardware maintenance.
Detailed, decisive tech product reviews and yearly industry roundups. Hosted by Marques Brownlee.
In plain terms: This YouTube channel offers detailed technology product reviews and yearly industry roundups hosted by Marques Brownlee. You can watch the videos to evaluate new tech devices and stay informed about current industry developments.
Why I recommend it: Best place to decide whether a device is worth your money.
