Tether backs Italian robotics startup Generative Bionics with $81 million for humanoid robots

Tether Backs Italian Humanoid-Robotics Firm as AI Push Builds

Stablecoin giant Tether has joined a €70 million ($81.6 million) funding round for Italy-based Generative Bionics, a humanoid-robotics startup developing industrial robots built using research from the Italian Institute of Technology. The round was led by CDP Venture Capital, Italy's state-backed venture investor, through its Artificial Intelligence Fund, Generative Bionics said in a statement seen by Bloomberg. AMD Ventures, the investment arm of US chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices, and other industrial backers also joined the round.

Tether Invests in Italian Robotics Startup Generative Bionics Amid Humanoid Hype - Decrypt

The company said Monday it invested in Generative Bionics as part of a €70 million (US$81 million) round, joining a sector dominated by firms like Tesla and Nvidia. Tether said its funding will help the startup complete industrial testing and build its first production facility ahead of planned deployments in 2026. Generative Bionics describes its machines as "Physical AI" systems designed to fuse humanoid robotics with artificial intelligence. "Tether invests in technologies that strengthen global digital and physical infrastructure and expand human potential," Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said in a statement. "Humanoid robotics and Physical AI represent a powerful evolution in how intelligence and capability operate in the real world." For Tether, the investment continues a pattern of funding hardware and infrastructure projects beyond crypto, including artificial intelligence, media, and agriculture, and brain-computer interface technology, that sit outside its core stablecoin business. Other firms joining Tether in the Generative Bionics fundraise included the Artificial Intelligence Fund of CDP Venture Capital, which led the round, as well as AMD Ventures, Duferco, Eni Next, and RoboIT. Launched in 2024, Generative Bionics spun out of the Italian Institute of Technology, where researchers built more than 60 humanoid prototypes over two decades. According to the company, 70 of the Italian Institute of Technology's engineers joined the company and are working to turn that research into commercial robots for manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, and retail environments, bringing the label "Made in Italy" to the humanoid robot market. Generative Bionics also said it plans to debut its first complete humanoid robot at CES 2026 in Las Vegas. "Our mission is to build a future where intelligent humanoid robots collaborate daily with people, amplifying human cognitive and physical potential," Generative Bionics CEO and Co-Founder, Daniele Pucci, said in a statement. "Our Physical AI enables us to design and manufacture human-inspired robots that create tangible value across multiple applications." That was followed by Bedrock Robotics in July, which secured $80 million. In April, Roundhill Investments filed for a humanoid robotics ETF, reflecting growing confidence that humanoid systems could ease labor shortages and support operations in industrial settings. Morgan Stanley has projected the market could reach $5 trillion by 2050, led by demand in logistics and manufacturing.

Tether deepens AI bet, backs Italian firm's humanoid robots

The funding will support the development of humanoid robots for industrial use, aiming for "industrial scale performance." Stablecoin giant Tether has announced it is one of the backers of an $81 million funding round for an Italian artificial intelligence startup aiming to build advanced humanoid robots. The 70 million euro funding round for startup Generative Bionics was led by the AI fund of CDP Venture Capital, with participation from Tether, AMD Ventures, Duferco, Eni Next and RoboIT. In an announcement on Monday, Tether said it provided capital to support the development of advanced humanoid robots, "built for industrial scale performance" and "human-centric interaction." "Tether's investment will support the development of Physical AI systems and edge AI solutions, and accelerate the industrial validation of the company's humanoid platform, the development of its first production facility, and its integration in the broader robotics ecosystem," Tether said. Generative Bionics is an AI startup and research spinoff from the Italian Institute of Technology. Its focus is on building humanoid robots with "real-world physical AI capabilities" such as industrial usability in factory production lines. "Tether's support for Generative Bionics builds on its broader strategy to back emerging technologies that expand human potential while reducing reliance on centralized systems overseen by Big Tech," Tether said. Related: Tether's USDt awarded key regulatory status in Abu Dhabi According to Tether, the firm focuses on five areas of investment. These include: finance, power, data, education and evolution, with AI investments such as these falling under the category of evolution. With a healthy balance sheet in 2025, the firm has made a series of investments across multiple sectors. In terms of AI, it was reported in mid-November that the firm was considering a hefty $1.15 billion investment in German AI robotics startup Neura. In the announcement, Tether also highlighted some other AI plays it has supported. "This includes investments in brain-computer interfaces via Blackrock Neurotech and recent AI initiatives such as Tether's collaboration with Northern Data and Rumble to deploy a 20,000-GPU global compute network for open, privacy-preserving AI development," Tether said.

Tether Backs $81 Million Humanoid Robotics Project in Italy | PYMNTS.com

The new funding round was one of the largest ever in Europe in the "humanoid robotics deep tech space," Generative Bionics said in a Monday (Dec. 8) announcement. "Our mission is to build a future where intelligent humanoid robots collaborate daily with people, amplifying human cognitive and physical potential," said Daniele Pucci, the company's co-founder and CEO. "Our Physical AI enables us to design and manufacture human-inspired robots that create tangible value across multiple applications." He pointed to analyses projecting that the humanoid robotics market will exceed 200 billion euros ($232 billion) by 2035 and could top $5 trillion by 2050. "This is an epochal transformation: our goal is to position Generative Bionics as a global leader in physical AI for human-centric humanoid ecosystems," Pucci said. The round was led by CDP Venture Capital, with participation by investors that include Tether. The company says it will use the funding to boost product development, train physical artificial intelligence (AI) systems -- what it calls the fusion of robotics and AI -- and to construct its first production plant. "The company is also finalizing its first industrial deployment contracts, which will be announced in early 2026, marking the introduction of humanoids into real production environments," the announcement said. As PYMNTS wrote last month, physical AI has emerged as the next phase of robotics as new developments in sensing, perception and large AI models provide machines with capabilities that had never been supported by traditional automation. "Earlier robots followed fixed commands and worked only in predictable environments, struggling with the unpredictability found in everyday operations such as shifting layouts, varying item shapes, mixed lighting, and human movement," that report said. "That is beginning to change as research groups show how simulation, digital twins and multimodal learning pipelines enable robots to learn adaptive behaviors and carry those behaviors into real facilities with minimal retraining." An example of this technology in the day-to-day world is Amazon's launch of its Vulcan robot earlier this year. Vulcan employs both vision and touch to pick and stow items in fulfillment centers, letting it handle flexible fabric storage pods and unpredictable product shapes. Amazon says the robot's tactile systems allow it to respond to pressure, contact and motion in real time to carry out tasks that typically call for human dexterity.