Ray Kurzweil's Beyond Imagination Secures $100 Million Investment for Humanoid Robots

Exclusive: Ray Kurzweil's humanoid robot startup in talks for $100 million investment

May 20 (Reuters) - A humanoid robotics startup co-founded by prominent artificial-intelligence futurist Ray Kurzweil said on Tuesday that venture capital firm Gauntlet Ventures will back its $100 million Series B funding round. The company, Beyond Imagination, will be valued at $500 million, and venture capital firm Gauntlet Ventures will be the round's sole investor. Kurzweil is known for popularizing the term "the singularity," when he predicted two decades ago that by 2045, artificial intelligence would surpass human intelligence and embark on a path of accelerating self-enhancement. These ideas, which once seemed like science fiction, are now viewed as mainstream by many technologists. Beyond Imagination is co-founded by scientist, entrepreneur and filmmaker Harry Kloor. The company has developed a humanoid robot -- the Beyond Bot - and accompanying AI models that it intends to deploy in industrial settings such as factories, pharmaceutical plants and chip manufacturing facilities, said Gauntlet Ventures co-founder Oliver Carmack. The company has been testing its robots and is now looking for large enterprises into which they can be deployed, Carmack said, adding that he chose to back Beyond Imagination because of its potential to revolutionize U.S. manufacturing and address the projected global shortage of skilled labor. Major tech companies including Nvidia(NVDA.O), opens new tab, Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab and Tesla(TSLA.O), opens new tab, alongside various startups, are rushing to make humanoid robots, and are betting that recent advances in AI will also lead to breakthroughs in robots and automation. In October last year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that "a lot of progress" has been made with its humanoid robot, Optimus, which could perform many daily tasks. Progress on robots has been slow, however, as researchers have found that the language-related AI breakthroughs driving chatbot development have not necessarily helped with understanding of the physical world. Many companies are spending enormous sums to collect the real-world training data necessary to train models that can power robots. In addition to humanoid robots, Beyond Imagination is also developing Aura, which co-founder Kloor described as a universal operating system for intelligent manufacturing, allowing humans, robots and legacy machines to work together. Beyond Imagination has attracted an eclectic roster of advisers, including former Qualcomm (QCOM.O), opens new tab CEO Paul Jacobs, motivational speaker Tony Robbins, and onetime Paramount Pictures chairman Jim Gianopulos. Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles and Anna Tong in San Francisco; Editing by Matthew Lewis Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Artificial Intelligence Anna Tong Thomson Reuters Anna Tong is a correspondent for Reuters based in San Francisco, where she reports on the technology industry. She joined Reuters in 2023 after working at the San Francisco Standard as a data editor. Tong previously worked at technology startups as a product manager and at Google where she worked in user insights and helped run a call center. Tong graduated from Harvard University.

Beyond Imagination raises $100 million to build humanoid robots

The company, Beyond Imagination, will be valued at $500 million, and venture capital firm Gauntlet Ventures will be the round's sole investor. Kurzweil is known for popularizing the term "the singularity," when he predicted two decades ago that by 2045, artificial intelligence would surpass human intelligence and embark on a path of accelerating self-enhancement. These ideas, which once seemed like science fiction, are now viewed as mainstream by many technologists. Beyond Imagination is co-founded by scientist, entrepreneur and filmmaker Harry Kloor. The company has developed a humanoid robot -- the Beyond Bot -- and accompanying AI models that it intends to deploy in industrial settings such as factories, pharmaceutical plants and chip manufacturing facilities, said Gauntlet Ventures co-founder Oliver Carmack.

Futurist Ray Kurzweil's Humanoid Robotics Startup Eyes a $500M Valuation

Ray Kurzweil's robotics startup Beyond Imagination aims to revolutionize physical labor with A.I.-driven humanoid robots and a bold funding push. Ray Kurzweil, a renowned inventor and futurist, has long envisioned a future where humans and A.I. work in tandem. Now, he's edging closer to that reality with Beyond Imagination, a robotics startup reportedly seeking to raise $100 million in a Series B funding round, according to Reuters. Sign Up For Our Daily Newsletter Sign Up Thank you for signing up! By clicking submit, you agree to our <a href="http://observermedia.com/terms">terms of service</a> and acknowledge we may use your information to send you emails, product samples, and promotions on this website and other properties. You can opt out anytime. See all of our newsletters Kurzweil co-founded Beyond Imagination in 2018 with Harry Floor, a scientist and film producer, to develop autonomous A.I. systems capable of physical labor. The company is building humanoid robots aimed at addressing labor shortages in sectors such as health care and agriculture. Its advisory board includes motivational speaker Tony Robbins, former Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs, and former Paramount Pictures CEO James Gianopulos. Between 2018 and 2019, the startup raised $4.2 million in seed funding and was most recently valued at $25 million, per Crunchbase. Reuters reported that its upcoming valuation could reach $500 million, with Gauntlet Ventures -- a Dallas-based venture capital firm -- expected to be the sole investor in the new round. Humans and technology meld together in the 'Singularity' Kurzweil, a pioneer in fields ranging from A.I. and health to music technology, has received numerous accolades including the National Medal of Technology and Innovation and a Technical Grammy Award. Yet he's best known as a futurist who believes in the concept of the "Singularity" -- a moment when machines surpass human intelligence and humans merge with technology. While this notion seemed distant when Kurzweil published The Singularity Is Near in 2005, it now feels more plausible in the wake of A.I. advances like OpenAI's ChatGPT. In an interview last year, Kurzweil predicted that the kind of rapid progress seen in large language models (LLMs) will soon extend to robotics. He claimed that humanoid robots will eventually "do everything humans can do with our hands and bodies." Beyond Imagination's robots, for instance, are designed to improve efficiency in physical labor and take on dangerous or undesirable jobs. The company has suggested possible roles ranging from surgical assistants to ghost kitchen staff. According to Reuters, it is also building an operating system to enable collaboration between humans, robots and other machines. Kurzweil isn't alone in this bet on robotics. Elon Musk's Tesla is developing the Optimus line of humanoid robots, which he claims will cost under $30,000 and eventually perform tasks like babysitting, lawn care and grocery shopping. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has also argued that A.I.'s next wave will be rooted in physical tools and robotics. Earlier this year, Nvidia introduced a suite of A.I. models that simulate real-world environments, now being deployed by robotics firms.

Exclusive-Ray Kurzweil's humanoid robot startup in talks for $100 million investment

(Reuters) -A humanoid robotics startup co-founded by prominent artificial-intelligence futurist Ray Kurzweil said on Tuesday that venture capital firm Gauntlet Ventures will back its $100 million Series B funding round. The company, Beyond Imagination, will be valued at $500 million, and venture capital firm Gauntlet Ventures will be the round's sole investor. Kurzweil is known for popularizing the term "the singularity," when he predicted two decades ago that by 2045, artificial intelligence would surpass human intelligence and embark on a path of accelerating self-enhancement. These ideas, which once seemed like science fiction, are now viewed as mainstream by many technologists. Beyond Imagination is co-founded by scientist, entrepreneur and filmmaker Harry Kloor. The company has developed a humanoid robot -- the Beyond Bot - and accompanying AI models that it intends to deploy in industrial settings such as factories, pharmaceutical plants and chip manufacturing facilities, said Gauntlet Ventures co-founder Oliver Carmack. The company has been testing its robots and is now looking for large enterprises into which they can be deployed, Carmack said, adding that he chose to back Beyond Imagination because of its potential to revolutionize U.S. manufacturing and address the projected global shortage of skilled labor. Major tech companies including Nvidia, Meta Platforms and Tesla, alongside various startups, are rushing to make humanoid robots, and are betting that recent advances in AI will also lead to breakthroughs in robots and automation. In October last year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that "a lot of progress" has been made with its humanoid robot, Optimus, which could perform many daily tasks. Progress on robots has been slow, however, as researchers have found that the language-related AI breakthroughs driving chatbot development have not necessarily helped with understanding of the physical world. Many companies are spending enormous sums to collect the real-world training data necessary to train models that can power robots. In addition to humanoid robots, Beyond Imagination is also developing Aura, which co-founder Kloor described as a universal operating system for intelligent manufacturing, allowing humans, robots and legacy machines to work together. Beyond Imagination has attracted an eclectic roster of advisers, including former Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs, motivational speaker Tony Robbins, and onetime Paramount Pictures chairman Jim Gianopulos. (Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles and Anna Tong in San Francisco; Editing by Matthew Lewis)