Jeff Bezos backing San Francisco startup developing household AI robots for chores
- Jeff Bezos has backed up a startup creating household robots
- The robots will be able to carry out numerous tasks around the home
- Clips show the robots making coffee and folding laundry
Published on Dec 24, 2024 at 2:51 AM (UTC+4)
by Claire Reid
Last updated on Dec 24, 2024 at 1:14 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
Jeff Bezos has invested in a San Francisco-based startup that is creating robots to help carry out household tasks such as folding laundry.
Physical Intelligence launched earlier this year and has already got a healthy $2 billion valuation.
The Amazon founder is one of several new investors who have pumped $400 million into Physical Intelligence.
Other investors, include OpenAI and venture capital firms Thrive Capital and Lux Capital.
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The robotics startup hopes to ‘bring AI into the physical world’
Of course, Physical Intelligence isn’t the only company working on helpful robots – Tesla has its humanoid Optimus bots, which it says will be able to perform a wide variety of tasks such as carrying groceries, babysitting, walking dogs, and even providing healthcare support.
Meanwhile, Apple has been rumored to be stepping into the space, too, after quietly dropping plans for its Apple Car.
According to its website, Physical Intelligence aims to ‘bring AI into the physical world’.
“Physical Intelligence is bringing general-purpose AI into the physical world,” the site states.
“We are a group of engineers, scientists, roboticists, and company builders developing foundation models and learning algorithms to power the robots of today and the physically actuated devices of the future.”
In clips shared to the company’s official X account, an autonomous robot can be seen carrying out numerous tasks, such as making a cup of coffee and folding laundry.
Jeff Bezos has invested in similar companies before
Amazon is no stranger to robots – its robotic fleet was expanded by more than 100% in three years, and there are even a few super-sized humanoid robots kicking around its factories.
So it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that Jeff Bezos was keen to invest in the startup.
It isn’t even the first AI robotics firm he’s splashed the cash on, having previously invested in Figure AI, CNBC reported.
But what makes Physical Intelligence different from many of the other companies in the field is that its team is working to create foundational software that can work for any robot, rather than building and creating software for specific machines.
“What we’re doing is not just a brain for any particular robot,” Physical Intelligence’s co-founder and CEO Karol Hausman told The New York Times.
“It’s a single generalist brain that can control any robot.”
Sounds exciting, doesn’t it?
Claire Reid is a journalist who hails from the UK but is now living in New Zealand. She began her career after graduating with a degree in Journalism from Liverpool John Moore’s University and has more than a decade of experience, writing for both local newspapers and national news sites. Across her career she's covered a wide variety of topics, including celebrity, cryptocurrency, politics, true crime and just about everything in between.
