Let’s talk about AI-powered robotics and Skild AI.
Many professionals in the IIoT space have a core belief in common, when it comes to actively revolutionizing the future of physical labor:
Scale is key. Simple.
That’s why companies inventing cutting-edge machine learning (ML) algorithms are placing great focus on harnessing the power of scale to provide next-gen robustness across any environment a robot may find itself in. This is what IIoT pros believe will transform productivity as we know it, with responsibly trained robotics deployed to further elevate human potential.
As fate would have it, one such IIoT team with this belief held close is currently making big moves at Skild AI.
From automated visual inspection and data collection in factories and construction sites to full-stack solutions for smart-enabled homes, Skild AI’s robotics foundation model – “Skild Brain” as it’s called – generalizes to structured and unstructured settings with a.) AI-enhanced capabilities, and b.) human-like adaptability, the company has stated. Skild AI develops high-level AI algorithms and apps, leading to robotics deployments that make measurable impacts for businesses.
And speaking of Impacts, Skild AI recently announced that it closed on a successful $300 million Series A funding round. This was led by a number of big names, including SoftBank Group, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Coatue and even Jeff Bezos (through Bezos Expeditions). Additional participation came from Felicis Ventures, Sequoia, Menlo Ventures, General Catalyst, CRV, Amazon, SV Angel, and Carnegie Mellon University.
What’s more is the company’s total valuation that this funding round supported – $1.5 billion.
That’s a lot of green being thrown toward high-performance robotics.
Additionally, here’s a great excerpt from the official announcement:
“Skild AI is building intelligence that is grounded in the physical world. The company is breaking the data barrier in robotics, training its model on at least 1,000-times more data points than competing models. As opposed to vertically designed robots that are built for specific applications, Skild’s model serves as a shared, general-purpose brain for a diverse embodiment of robots, scenarios and tasks, including manipulation, locomotion and navigation. From resilient quadrupeds mastering adverse physical conditions, to vision-based humanoids performing dexterous manipulation of objects for complex household and industrial tasks, the company’s model will enable the use of low-cost robots across a broad range of industries and applications.”
Deepak Pathak, CEO and co-founder of Skild AI, expressed great ambitions in light of the round’s closing.
“The large-scale model we are building demonstrates unparalleled generalization and emergent capabilities across robots and tasks, providing significant potential for automation within real-world environments. We believe Skild AI represents a step change in how robotics will be scaled, and has the potential to change the entire physical economy.”
“And with general-purpose robots that can safely perform any automated task – in any environment, and with any type of embodiment,” added Abhinav Gupta, Skild AI President and co-founder, “we can expand the capabilities of robots, democratize their cost, and support the severely understaffed labor market.”
The long-story-short of this, readers?
Skild AI’s new capital will be used to continue scaling its models and training datasets for future commercial deployment (in addition to hiring for roles related to AI, robotics, engineering, operations and security).
Those interested in the rest of Skild AI’s announcement can check it out here.
Edited by
Greg Tavarez
