The idea of AI-powered humanoid robots coexisting with humans and reducing their workload may seem like something from a science fiction movie. But companies have been working on it for years. For example, Apptronik, a robotics company founded in early 2016, is developing Apollo, a general-purpose humanoid robot that stands 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 160 pounds. The company’s latest funding round is expected to further accelerate the deployment of the robot. Austin, Texas-based Apptronik announced in a press release on February 12th that it has closed a $350 million Series A funding round to deploy Apollo, expand its company operations, grow its team, and accelerate innovation.
The investment was co-led by B Capital and Capital Factory, with participation from Google’s AI company DeepMind. “Apptronik will enable a future where humanoid robots play a key role in solving a variety of societal challenges, including disaster relief, elderly care support, space exploration, and medical advancements,” said Howard Morgan, chairman and general partner of B Capital.
With this investment, Apptronik will explore Apollo’s many different forms and develop a full-stack robotics platform. It also plans to enhance the robot’s capabilities to enable a wide range of applications in a variety of industries, including logistics, manufacturing, elderly care, and healthcare. In addition, the funds will be used to expand Apollo’s manufacturing to meet “surging customer demand.” According to a press release, orders are expanding to a wide range of sectors, including automotive, electronics manufacturing, third-party logistics providers, beverage manufacturing and delivery, and consumer packaged goods. Jeff Cardenas, co-founder and CEO of Apptronik, said, “By combining cutting-edge AI with conversation-specific hardware, we are building a future where robots are true partners in driving growth.” Apptronik began developing Apollo in 2022 in collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). At the time, NASA announced that Apollo could help establish bases for manned missions to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.
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The following year, Apptronik signed commercial agreements with Mercedes-Benz and GXO Logistics and released an alpha version of Apollo. Apptronik also partnered with DeepMind to integrate its AI technology into Apptronik’s humanoid robot platform. The new funding is expected to give the company momentum and give it an edge in the humanoid robot market, which is being entered by several major companies and startups. Tesla also owns a humanoid robot named “Optimus,” known as the Teslabot. It is ramping up development by recruiting for dozens of positions, including AI, robotics, manufacturing, and IT. Similarly, OpenAI reported that Caitlin Kalinowski, who joined the company in November 2024 and now leads the robotics and consumer hardware team, has started recruiting for the company’s first robotics hardware-related positions. The positions include electrical engineering sensing engineer, robot mechanical design engineer, and technical product manager. In addition, OpenAI filed for trademark registration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on January 31.
The contents included descriptions of many hardware products, such as “User-programmable humanoid robot (unassembled)” and “Humanoid robot with communication and learning capabilities to assist and entertain people.” Rapid developments in the AI field over the past two years have made the realization of humanoid robots more realistic. As a result, we can expect many advancements in the near future with the aim of making humanoid robots safe and useful for everyone. This article was edited for Japan by Asahi Interactive from an article published by Ziff Davis overseas.
SOURCE: Yahoo
