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Beatbot Sora 70 and Expanded Lineup Redefine Smart Pool Upgrades for Summer 2025

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Beatbot Sora 70 Leads Smart Pool Upgrades This Summer

As summer arrives, pool owners face a familiar challenge: keeping the water clean without spending every weekend scrubbing and skimming. The Beatbot Sora 70 steps in as a flagship solution, offering a 4-in-1 cordless system that tackles surface debris, waterline scum, wall algae, and floor dirt in one automated cycle. This year, Beatbot expands its lineup with the Sora 30 and AquaSense series, making smart pool upgrades accessible for every type of pool owner. Whether you are a busy parent, a new homeowner, or someone who simply wants more pool time and less work, these innovations promise to transform your routine.

Summer is when pools move from being part of the setup to becoming part of everyday life. What starts as a manageable routine quickly turns into regular use, whether it is weekends with family, hosting friends, or simply spending more time outdoors. It is also when maintenance stops being occasional and begins to demand consistency, which is where most systems start to fall short.

Why Smart Pool Upgrades Matter This Season

Surface debris returns faster than expected, shallow areas remain inconsistent, and steps that were meant to be automated begin to come back into the routine. What looks simple at the start of the season starts to take more time than it should, especially when the pool is being used more often.

Beatbot positions the Sora 70 as a way to remove that friction altogether. Built as a 4-in-1 cordless system, it brings together water-surface cleaning, waterline scrubbing, wall climbing, and floor cleaning into a single workflow that reduces the need for repeated intervention. More than that, it fits into how pools are actually used during the season, making it a practical upgrade for homeowners and a high-value gift for those investing in easier, more usable outdoor living. With the Anniversary Campaign running from May 9 to 25, it arrives at a point where that shift becomes both relevant and easy to act on

The Sora 70: A 4-in-1 System Designed to Replace Fragmented Pool Cleaning

Most robotic pool cleaners still leave gaps in how cleaning is handled. Floors are covered, walls are managed, but surface debris, shallow platforms, and waterline buildup are often left to separate tools or manual effort. That fragmentation becomes more visible with regular use, when no single cycle fully resets the pool and maintenance starts to return in smaller, repeated steps.

The Sora 70 is designed to replace that fragmented approach. Its 4-in-1 system brings together water-surface cleaning, waterline scrubbing, wall climbing, and floor cleaning into a single cycle, reducing the need for multiple devices or follow-up passes. Instead of dividing the process, it handles the pool as one continuous environment, which is where most systems tend to fall short.

In practical terms, this shifts the experience from managing individual cleaning tasks to relying on a system that delivers complete coverage in one run. That reduction in manual effort is what makes it a smarter upgrade, and also what allows it to stand out as a more considered purchase for homeowners looking to simplify how their pool is maintained.

Designed to Handle the Areas Most Systems Miss

In many pools, the challenge is not cleaning the obvious surfaces but reaching the areas that are easy to skip. Shallow platforms, tanning ledges, and multi-level sections often sit outside the effective range of standard robotic cleaners, which leaves parts of the pool inconsistent even after a full cycle.

The Sora 70 addresses this through its dual SonicSense ultrasonic sensors, which allow it to navigate shallow-water zones as low as 8 inches. This enables it to move across varied pool layouts without breaking the cleaning path, maintaining continuity from surface to floor.

That consistency removes the need for manual correction after each cycle, which is where most of the effort tends to go. For users looking for reliable cleaning that holds up through regular use, this is where the system begins to justify itself not just as an upgrade, but as something that delivers ongoing value over time.

JetPulse Turns Surface Cleaning into an Active Process

Surface debris is one of the most persistent issues in pool maintenance, especially during summer use when leaves, dust, and particles return quickly. Most robotic systems rely on passive movement, collecting debris only when it drifts into range, which often requires multiple cycles to achieve visible results.

The Sora 70 takes a more active approach through its JetPulse system. A twin-jet mechanism generates directed water flow that pulls floating debris toward the intake, allowing it to be captured earlier in the cycle rather than after repeated passes. This shortens the time between cleaning and usability, which matters more during periods of frequent use. Instead of waiting for the pool to settle, it stays ready with fewer interruptions, supporting a setup that is easier to maintain without repeated intervention.

HydroBalance Maintains Consistent Suction Across the Entire Cycle

In many robotic cleaners, suction performance drops as the cleaning cycle progresses, which leads to uneven results and often requires additional runs to fully clear the pool. That inconsistency becomes more noticeable during regular use, when debris accumulates quickly and cleaning needs to be reliable rather than repeated.

The Sora 70’s HydroBalance system is designed to maintain a steady flow throughout the cycle. A center-mounted pump creates a direct, low-resistance path, while a high-efficiency motor sustains 6,800 GPH suction without drop-off. The 6.7-inch intake reduces clogging, and the bottom-hugging design helps retain suction close to the surface being cleaned. This allows debris to be removed in a single pass, reducing the need for additional cleaning cycles and making the system easier to depend on as part of a regular pool routine.

Filtration That Supports Both Routine Cleaning and Higher-Precision Results

Alongside debris removal, the Sora 70 is built to handle the difference between visible cleaning and actual water clarity. A 6L, 150-micron debris basket captures leaves, insects, and larger particles during everyday use, allowing longer cycles without frequent emptying and keeping routine maintenance consistent.

When finer particles become more noticeable, particularly during periods of frequent use, an optional 3-micron ultra-fine filter captures dust, pollen, and algae spores that are not always visible during standard cleaning cycles.

By maintaining the same cleaning process while improving the level of filtration, the system avoids adding extra steps while delivering a more refined result. That consistency becomes part of its long-term value, particularly for homeowners who want a setup that continues to perform without added effort, and for those considering a more considered purchase that improves how the pool is maintained over time.

Retrieval That Does Not Interrupt the Process

Retrieval remains one of the most inconvenient parts of robotic cleaning. The process often requires manual handling at the end of each cycle, which breaks the sense of automation. The Sora 70 addresses this through Smart Water-Surface Parking and One-Touch App Retrieval. At the end of a cycle, it rises to the surface and moves toward the pool edge, where it can be accessed without additional effort.

The SmartDrain system releases excess water before lifting, reducing weight and making handling easier. This keeps the experience consistent from start to finish, without reintroducing effort at the final step, which is often where automation tends to fall apart.

Built for Longer Use, Not Just Shorter Cycles

Pool cleaning needs to keep up with usage, especially during summer when the pool is used more frequently. The Sora 70 is powered by a 10,000 mAh battery that supports up to seven hours of surface cleaning or five hours of full-pool cleaning, allowing it to cover up to 3,230 square feet in a single cycle.

Its cordless design removes the need for cable management, improving ease of use in active outdoor environments. This makes it easier to treat as part of a regular setup rather than a task that needs planning, which is where most systems start to feel limiting.

A Shift That Fits How Pools Are Used Through the Season

Pool usage changes once the season is in full swing, with expectations moving beyond basic cleaning toward maintaining a space that stays ready without repeated attention. Bringing surface cleaning, walls, and the pool floor into a single system allows the Sora 70 to remove the need for managing separate steps, keeping the overall setup consistent even during periods of regular use without adding to the workload.

That difference becomes more relevant when the decision moves from solving an immediate problem to choosing a system that continues to deliver over time. For homeowners upgrading an outdoor space, the Sora 70 works as a high-value addition that improves how the pool is used without adding complexity. It also translates naturally into a premium, practical gift for pool owners or new homeowners, where the value comes from reducing a recurring task rather than introducing another one.

With Anniversary pricing from May 9 to 25, where it is available at $1,149, down from $1,499, the timing aligns with peak pool use. The shift toward less manual work and a more reliable setup becomes easier to act on, making it a relevant upgrade for the season as well as a considered purchase that continues to deliver beyond it.

Sora 30: A Smart Upgrade for Consistent Everyday Cleaning

Building on the approach established by Beatbot’s Sora 70, the Sora 30 focuses on the parts of pool cleaning that define everyday use, delivering consistent results without moving into full 4-in-1 automation. It is designed for users who want dependable cordless pool cleaning that reduces manual effort while keeping the system simple to operate.

Its 3-in-1 cleaning across floor, walls, and waterline ensures routine maintenance is handled in a single cycle, with dual roller brushes supporting stable wall climbing and consistent contact across surfaces. The filtration system captures both larger debris and finer particles within the same pass, helping avoid repeat runs, while a runtime of up to five hours allows most residential pools to be cleaned without interruption.

Coverage extends to shallow zones such as steps and ledges, and smart surface parking brings the unit to an accessible point for retrieval, with the fully cordless design removing cable management altogether and making repeated use easier to manage over time.

As part of Beatbot’s Anniversary offer from May 9 to 25, the Sora 30 is available at $699, down from $999, positioning it as a clear step up from entry-level cordless pool cleaning. It works both as a smart upgrade for everyday use and as a practical, high-value gift for pool owners or new homeowners, delivering less work, more pool time, and a setup that holds up through regular use.

AquaSense X and 2 Ultra: Premium Systems for Low-Intervention Pool Care

Extending beyond the Sora series, Beatbot’s AquaSense X is designed for users who want pool cleaning to operate with minimal involvement, moving from consistent maintenance into a more automated, system-led approach.

It brings complete, all-zone coverage into a system built around advanced pool robotics, combining floor, walls, waterline, and surface cleaning with filtration and water clarification. Automated debris handling reduces the need for manual emptying, while intelligent navigation ensures consistent coverage across the entire pool without requiring supervision, shifting the experience from managing cleaning cycles to relying on a system that runs with minimal input. This makes it particularly relevant for larger pools or setups that see frequent use, where consistency and reduced intervention matter more than isolated cleaning performance.

As part of Beatbot’s Anniversary offer from May 9 to 25, the AquaSense X is available at $3,999, down from $4,250, positioning it as a flagship upgrade within advanced pool robotics. It also works as a premium, high-value gift for homeowners investing in outdoor spaces, delivering less work, more pool time, and a system that continues to perform without constant attention.

AquaSense 2 Ultra: AI-Powered Cleaning for Complex Pool Environments

Positioned within the premium segment, the AquaSense 2 Ultra introduces HybridSense AI-powered mapping, enabling precise navigation, obstacle detection, and adaptive path planning across complex pool layouts. Its 5-in-1 cleaning system covers surface, floor, walls, waterline, and water purification, while HybridSense AI mapping helps reduce cleaning time by up to 50% through more efficient coverage. ClearWater natural clarification improves water clarity alongside debris removal, and side brushes enhance surface cleaning performance, ensuring that both visible and fine particles are addressed within the same cycle.

Adaptive path planning allows it to navigate multi-level platforms and irregular pool shapes more effectively, while remote control functionality provides flexibility when needed. Once cleaning is complete, the system returns to the pool edge automatically for easy retrieval without manual handling.

Available at $2,649, with $501 off as part of Beatbot’s Anniversary offer from May 9 to 25, the AquaSense 2 Ultra stands out as a compelling premium upgrade for users looking to step into AI-driven pool cleaning. It balances reduced cleaning time, complete coverage, and advanced automation, making it easier to maintain a high-quality pool setup with less ongoing effort.

A More Complete Way to Approach Pool Care This Season

This lineup works because each system is aligned to a clear level of effort reduction. The Sora 70 brings full coverage into a single system. The Sora 30 simplifies everyday cleaning into a more consistent routine. The AquaSense range extends that further into automation and intelligent control.

With the Anniversary Campaign running from May 9 to 25, the decision shifts from comparing features to choosing how much of the process to remove. Whether it is replacing manual cleaning, consolidating multiple tools, or moving toward a more automated setup, the current pricing makes that shift easier to act on now.

For pool owners preparing for the season, or for those looking at a more meaningful, high-value gift, this is a moment where upgrading becomes a practical decision. Whether it is about reducing ongoing effort or making the pool easier to use day to day, the Sora 70 aligns with a simple outcome that defines summer use at its best, less work and more time in the water.

Looking for more tips on maintaining your pool? Check out our guide on essential pool cleaning tips or explore the best robotic pool cleaners of 2025.

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XDOF, three months out of stealth, is already closing in on a $1.2B Series B

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XDOF Series B

From stealth to unicorn talk in record time

Three months. That’s how long XDOF has been out in the open. And already, the robotics data startup is in late-stage conversations to raise a Series B at a valuation hovering around $1.2 billion, according to multiple sources familiar with the negotiations. The round would be led by 8VC.

Not bad for a company that didn’t even exist publicly until June.

XDOF was co-founded in 2024 by UC Berkeley researchers Philipp Wu (CEO) and Fred Shentu (CTO). Their origin story traces back to a research project called GELLO — a low-cost teleoperation system that lets a human operator control a robotic arm from a distance. The goal? Generate training data for robots. That work produced an influential paper in robotics and, eventually, a company.

The startup’s Series A, a $70 million round announced in June, drew participation from Thrive Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Lux, and Spark Capital. At the time, XDOF wasn’t planning to raise again so soon. But the market had other ideas.

Why investors are knocking on XDOF’s door

The reason for the sudden interest? Growth. Real, measurable growth.

XDOF’s annualized revenue is approaching $50 million, sources say. That kind of traction, so soon after a Series A, tends to make venture capitalists sit up and take notice. It also tends to make them pick up the phone.

“They weren’t out raising,” one person familiar with the situation told TechCrunch. “The VCs came to them.”

Terms aren’t final, and the total capital being raised remains unclear. TechCrunch couldn’t confirm whether the $1.2 billion valuation includes the new funding or sits on top of it. Both XDOF and 8VC declined to comment.

The Scale AI for physical robots

XDOF’s pitch is straightforward: it builds the data pipelines, collection tools, and annotation systems that frontier AI labs and robotics companies would rather not build themselves. Think of it as an outsourced data-supply chain for the robotics industry.

Investors describe XDOF as the Scale AI or Mercor of physical robotics — a nod to the data-labeling giants that powered the AI boom. The comparison makes sense. Large language models trained on the entire internet. Physical robots? They don’t have that luxury. There’s no massive, ready-made dataset of real-world robot interactions sitting online. That scarcity makes data collection the critical bottleneck on the road to general-purpose machines.

Wu felt that bottleneck firsthand as a PhD student. His research on how robots learn from large datasets kept hitting the same wall: “large-scale data to work with” simply didn’t exist, he told TechCrunch in June.

Building the ABC dataset

XDOF is tackling that problem head-on. The startup is partnering with UC Berkeley’s AI Research lab to release what it believes is the largest collection of high-quality robot training data ever assembled. The dataset is called ABC.

Collecting that data requires a hybrid approach. XDOF combines remote robot teleoperation with human collectors who wear sensors to record everyday tasks. Think folding clothes. Flattening boxes. The mundane, physical chores that robots still struggle to master.

The company plans to hire and train teams of data collectors around the world. Two main roles are emerging:

  • Teleoperators who steer robots remotely to demonstrate tasks
  • Egocentric operators who wear body sensors to capture natural movement data

Early traction and the competitive landscape

XDOF has already signed up 20 customers, including several frontier AI labs, according to previous statements to TechCrunch. That customer base, combined with the revenue trajectory, helps explain the valuation chatter.

But XDOF isn’t alone in this niche. Other startups chasing real-world data for robot training include Mecka AI. And the human-data platforms that started with LLMs — like Scale AI and Micro1 — are expanding beyond text and images into physical domains.

The race to build the data infrastructure for physical AI is heating up. Whoever wins it will effectively control the fuel supply for the next generation of robots. That’s a position worth paying up for.

Whether the $1.2 billion valuation holds remains to be seen. Deals at this stage can shift. But the fact that XDOF is even in this conversation — three months after emerging from stealth — says something about the demand for what it’s building.

For more on how data is shaping the future of AI, check out AI data labeling trends and robotics funding rounds in 2024.

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New York City Pulls AI From Younger Classrooms—Here’s Why It Matters

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NYC AI ban

New York City Just Hit Pause on AI in Classrooms

New York City Public Schools is drawing a hard line: no generative AI for students from 2-K through eighth grade during the 2026-2027 school year. That’s over half a million kids walking into classrooms next week without access to AI-powered tools.

The district says it will remove software with student-facing AI features and block AI companion chatbots. High schoolers? They’re exempt. This isn’t a blanket ban—it’s a targeted move to decide when kids should actually start using the technology.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani put it bluntly: “The tech industry wants us to believe that AI-powered early education is not only inevitable, but necessary. We do not see it that way.”

Why NYC Is Worried About AI for Younger Students

The fear isn’t just that a kid will ask ChatGPT to write an essay. City officials want younger students to build core skills—critical thinking, creativity, communication—without leaning on AI as a crutch. They’re also pushing for stronger human connections in classrooms, not another screen.

Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels said the city refuses to assume that innovation automatically equals more technology in front of students. It’s a deliberate slowdown, and it follows last year’s bell-to-bell cellphone ban that already limits device use during school hours.

What Happens When Kids Reach High School?

AI doesn’t vanish once students hit ninth grade. Instead, the district plans to roll out AI literacy classes twice a year. The goal? Teach teenagers how to think critically about the technology before they become dependent on it.

That’s a different approach from just saying no. It’s about timing—letting younger minds develop without AI, then giving older students the tools to question it.

The National Battle Over AI in Education

NYC’s decision sits at the center of a much bigger fight. The White House has pushed educators to embrace AI responsibly. Some teachers already use it to craft lesson plans, give feedback, or break down tough subjects. But not everyone’s on board.

The Department of Health and Human Services recently gathered childhood experts to talk about excessive screen time. Officials have also called for tougher safeguards around social media and AI. The message? Kids are spending too much time in front of screens, and AI might make it worse.

A Bold Experiment With Zero AI

Here’s what makes NYC’s move so interesting: instead of asking how much AI younger students should use, the largest school district in the country is starting with none. For one academic year, they’re testing whether classrooms are better off with AI kept outside the door.

That’s a radical stance, and it’s not without critics. Some educators argue AI can personalize learning or help struggling students catch up. But NYC is betting that a year without AI will reveal what kids actually need—not what tech companies think they need.

What This Means for Parents and Teachers

If you’re a parent in NYC, expect changes. AI-based apps may disappear from your child’s school day. Teachers will need to plan lessons without generative AI tools. And students in grades 2-K through 8 will rely more on traditional methods—paper, pencils, and human interaction.

For teachers elsewhere, this could be a signal. NYC is the biggest district to take this stance, and its findings could shape policies nationwide. The next year will be watched closely by educators, policymakers, and tech giants alike.

What Happens Next?

The district will spend the year studying how generative AI affects students before deciding what comes next. That research could lead to a permanent ban, a partial rollout, or something entirely different.

For now, NYC is making a statement: childhood shouldn’t be an AI beta test. Whether that’s the right call or a step backward, we’ll know more in 2027. Until then, the debate over AI in schools just got a lot more interesting.

If you’re curious about how AI is shaping other areas, check out our take on AI in education trends or classroom technology policies.

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Meta’s Muse Spark 1.3 takes on GPT-5.6 and Claude — but can it really win?

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Muse Spark 1.3

Meta just fired a serious shot in the AI arms race

The company quietly unleashed Muse Spark 1.3, its most advanced AI model to date, and it’s aiming straight at the top dogs. Developers can already access and pay for the update, which Meta says represents a massive leap forward in performance.

It won’t stay confined to the developer sandbox for long. Over the coming weeks, the model will roll out across Instagram, Facebook, and the Meta AI assistant — putting it in front of billions of everyday users.

What makes Muse Spark 1.3 actually different?

Meta’s Chief AI Officer, Alexandr Wang, didn’t mince words. He called this “the biggest jump so far on model performance,” pointing to serious gains in two areas: coding and agentic tasks — the kind where the AI acts on your behalf rather than just answering questions.

But here’s the catch. Wang told Bloomberg that Muse Spark 1.3 is competitive with Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5.1 and even beats OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 Sol at coding. That’s a bold claim, especially with OpenAI’s upcoming Astra model lurking in the wings.

Take those comparisons with a grain of salt, though. Benchmarks can be gamed, and a model that crushes one test might stumble on a totally different task. Real-world performance is what actually matters.

Efficiency gains under the hood

Wang broke down a few upgrades that set Muse Spark 1.3 apart:

  • 25% fewer tokens needed to complete the same job — meaning lower costs and faster responses
  • Multi-workflow handling — it can juggle several tasks at once instead of forcing separate sessions
  • Better context retention across long, complicated instructions
  • Self-awareness of limits — the model now pauses to ask for clarification before taking any irreversible action

That last point is quietly important. AI that knows when it doesn’t know is a big step toward trustworthiness, especially for agentic use cases.

Pricing stays flat, adoption explodes

Here’s something developers will appreciate: Meta isn’t raising prices. Muse Spark 1.3 costs the same as its predecessor, Muse Spark 1.2. That’s a smart move when rivals are hiking rates.

Wang told Bloomberg that adoption on Meta’s developer platform has been strong — some users are burning through trillions of tokens every week. Those numbers suggest real usage, not just hype.

What about open-source fans? Meta hasn’t decided whether it will release the model’s weights — the blueprint that lets outside developers build on top of it. The older Muse Spark 1.2 weights are still headed for release, but the new model’s future remains unclear.

The bigger picture: Meta’s spending spree continues

Meta is still pouring billions into AI infrastructure, and Muse Spark 1.3 is the clearest signal yet that the company believes it’s closing the gap with OpenAI and Anthropic. Whether that’s true or just corporate bravado will play out in the benchmarks and real-world deployments over the coming months.

For now, the model is available to developers, and the app rollout is imminent. If you’re building on Meta AI tools, this update is worth a serious look. And if you’re just a curious user, you’ll likely meet Muse Spark 1.3 in your Instagram feed sooner than you think.

One thing’s certain: the AI race just got a lot more interesting.

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