Genesis AI Launches with $105M Seed Funding to Develop Universal Robot Foundation Model

Genesis AI launches with $105M seed funding from Eclipse, Khosla to build AI models for robots | TechCrunch

Genesis AI, a startup that aims to build a foundational model for powering all kinds of robots, has emerged from stealth with a giant $105 million seed round co-led by Eclipse Ventures and Khosla Ventures. Founded last December by Zhou Xian (pictured above, left), a Ph.D. in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University, and Théophile Gervet, a former research scientist with the French AI lab Mistral, the startup wants to build a general-purpose model that will enable robots to automate a wide range of repetitive tasks, from lab work to housekeeping. Large language models are trained on vast datasets of text, but AI models for robotics must be trained on data on the physical world. However, acquiring that real-world data makes for a costly and time-consuming endeavor. To overcome that, Genesis is turning to synthetic data, which it generates using a proprietary physics engine that, it says, is capable of accurately modelling the physical world. Genesis' synthetic data engine originated from an academic project that Xian led in collaboration with researchers from 18 universities. Several participants from that project have since joined Genesis, making up its current staff of over 20 researchers who specialize in robotics, machine learning and graphics. Genesis claims its proprietary simulation engine allows it to develop models faster, a distinct advantage over competitors who rely on NVIDIA's software. Other companies working on developing general-purpose AI models for robots include Physical Intelligence, which raised a $400 million round; and Skild AI, which was valued at $4 billion earlier this year. "It's a big unknown: Will anybody have a large robotics foundation model that will generalize across tasks? That's a bet we want to go after," Kanu Gulati, a partner at Khosla Ventures, told TechCrunch. "Of all the teams we have seen, we like [Genesis's] approach for going after robotics foundation models," she added. Genesis is developing its synthetic data and building the foundational model across two offices, in Silicon Valley and Paris. As the next milestone, Genesis plans to release its model to the robotics community by the end of the year.

Robotics Startup Raises $105 Million Seed From US, China VCs

Genesis AI, a startup working on software for robots, has raised $105 million in a funding round with both US and Chinese backers -- a rarity in an industry split along geopolitical lines. The company, which lists headquarters in Paris and Palo Alto, California, announced the investment in a statement on Tuesday. Venture capital firms Khosla Ventures and Eclipse Capital led the financing, which also included participation from French public bank Bpifrance, tech billionaires Eric Schmidt and Xavier Niel, and HongShan, the fund formerly known as Sequoia China.

Robotics lab Genesis AI launches with $105M to develop universal robot foundation model and AI platform - SiliconANGLE

Robotics lab Genesis AI launches with $105M to develop universal robot foundation model and AI platform Genesis AI, a global physical artificial intelligence research lab that develops AI models for smart robotics, launched today and announced it has raised $105 million in funding. The investment round was co-led by Eclipse and Khosla Ventures, with participation from Bpifrance, HSG, former Google LLC Chief Executive Eric Schmidt and French telecommunications mogul Xavier Niel. "General-purpose robots powered by physical AI will define the next major chapter of human history," said Genesis CEO Zhou Xian. "While digital AI has made extraordinary progress, physical AI -- the intelligence that allows machines to perceive, understand and interact with the real world -- has lagged behind." Physical AI refers to artificial intelligence systems that directly interact with and adapt to the physical world, such as those that drive and enable robot systems. Genesis AI said that it brings a data-centric, full-stack approach to physical AI by building a scalable universal data engine for physics simulation and using large-scale robotics data collection. To reach the scale of human dexterity and capability, robots require vast amounts of training data and sensitivity. Today's robots are specialists; most industrial robots only exist to perform a single task or a series of simplified motions, often governed by a software stack that cannot adapt to rapidly changing conditions. Robots driven by physical AI robotics foundation models, or RFMs, can work around people, adapt and overcome complex spaces and work alongside people and even understand situations they were not originally introduced to. Genesis said it wants to deliver a platform that can bring human-level intelligence to robotics for different robots with an RFM that can be deployed no matter the type of robot. "Even in the most 'automated' industries today, the robot-to-human ratio rarely exceeds 1:30, due to the long tail of tasks requiring dexterity, cognition, mobility, and real-world reasoning that current robots simply can't handle," said Eclipse Partner Charly Mwangi. "General-purpose robotics is the breakthrough we've been waiting for and stands to impact trillions in labor value across sectors." Industries with the highest demand for robotics, such as automotive, have only added about 13,000 robots per year. Among those globally, around a mere 2,000 AI-powered robots are in current use, according to a report from Sci-Tech Today. To approach the matter, the company forged an expert team of industry technical talent and academia from Mistral AI SAS, Nvidia Corp., Google LLC, Carnegie Mellon University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Columbia University and the University of Maryland. Genesis said its core engineering team has deep expertise in simulation, graphics, robots and large-scale AI model training and deployment. Genesis believes there's a clear opportunity for general-purpose robotics across factory floors, warehouses, healthcare and agriculture. All these scenarios require precise tool use and close proximity with human counterparts, which cannot be easily programmed with the current software stacks employed by modern solutions.

Robotics Startup Genesis AI Launches With $105 Million in Funding | PYMNTS.com

Genesis AI aims to create a general-purpose artificial intelligence model that will allow robots to automate a range of repetitive tasks, TechCrunch reported Tuesday (July 1). The company's funding round was co-led by Eclipse and Khosla Ventures. "It's a big unknown: Will anybody have a large robotics foundation model that will generalize across tasks?" said Kanu Gulati, a partner at Khosla Ventures, per the report. "That's a bet we want to go after." "Of all the teams we have seen, we like [Genesis'] approach for going after robotics foundation models," she added, according to the report. "Traditional industrial robotic arms with vision systems primarily rely on preprogrammed instructions to execute tasks," Shern said. "This works well in factory environments where applications are repetitive and goal-oriented." However, "implementing humanoid robots into household settings is a more complex advancement because, unlike factories, household environments are highly dynamic, and tasks will vary significantly from one home to another," she added.