Robotics Startup Generalist Reaches $3B Valuation in Oversubscribed Funding Round

Generalist, a robotics startup, has reached a valuation of $3 billion following a recent funding boost, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The additional capital, totaling nearly $200 million, was led by 8VC, as disclosed in a regulatory filing. This new investment extends the company’s Series B round, which had originally raised $400 million in June at a $2 billion valuation, led by Radical Ventures. With this latest addition, the Series B’s total funding now stands at $600 million. The fresh funding arrives as Generalist emerges from a period of relative quiet. Founded in 2024 by former Google DeepMind researchers Pete Florence and Andy Zeng, along with former Boston Dynamics engineer Andrew Barry, the startup has secured early backing from notable investors, including 8VC, Radical Ventures, Nvidia, Union Square Ventures, Bezos Expeditions, and AI researcher Fei-Fei Li. Generalist focuses on developing an AI foundation model designed to work across various types of robots. The company recently launched its Gen 1.5 model, which it claims enables robots to learn new tasks from video demonstrations as short as 3 to 12 seconds long. According to one source, the startup is collaborating with a handful of customers, using their feedback to tailor the model for specific use cases. Generalist is not alone in its ambition to create a universal brain for robots. Competitors include Physical Intelligence, reportedly valued at $11 billion; SoftBank-backed Skild AI, valued at $14 billion; and Genesis AI, which was in talks last month to raise capital at a $3 billion valuation. This funding surge reflects growing investor belief that robotics may be approaching its own "ChatGPT moment," where robots can perform general tasks without explicit training for each one. However, some VCs caution that because robots cannot be trained on the entirety of the internet’s data the way large language models (LLMs) can, a truly general robotics model may still be years away. Both Generalist and 8VC declined to comment on the funding details.

via TechCrunch AI