Generalist, a robotics startup, has reached a $3 billion valuation after raising additional capital led by 8VC, according to two people with knowledge of the funding (25/08).

The fresh capital totals nearly $200 million, according to a regulatory filing. The additional funding is an extension of the $400 million Series B led by Radical Ventures, which Generalist announced in June at a $2 billion valuation.

The new investment brings the total funding in the Series B round to $600 million. Generalist and 8VC did not respond to a request for comment.

Generalist Expands Its Series B Funding

Generalist was founded in 2024 by former Google DeepMind researchers Pete Florence and Andy Zeng, along with former Boston Dynamics engineer Andrew Barry.

The startup received early backing from 8VC and Radical Ventures, as well as Nvidia, Union Square Ventures, Bezos Expeditions and AI researcher Fei-Fei Li.

Until recently, Generalist operated quietly and received little public attention.

Generalist Develops AI Foundation Model for Robots

Generalist is developing an AI foundation model designed to work with different types of robots.

The company says its newly released Gen 1.5 model allows robots to learn new tasks from video demonstrations that are as short as 3 to 12 seconds.

The startup is also working with a small number of customers. According to one source, Generalist is using their feedback to adapt the model for specific use cases.

Generalist Competes With Other AI Robotics Startups

Generalist is not the only startup seeking to build a general-purpose brain for a broad range of robots.

Its competitors include Physical Intelligence, which is reportedly valued at $11 billion, and SoftBank-backed Skild AI, valued at $14 billion.

Genesis AI is another competitor. As of last month, the company was in talks to raise capital at a $3 billion valuation.

Robotics Investors Expect a Potential “ChatGPT Moment”

The funding surge reflects a bet by some investors that robotics could soon experience its own “ChatGPT moment.”

This would mean robots could perform general tasks without being explicitly trained for each individual task.

However, some venture capital investors warn that a truly general robotics model could still be years away.

Robots cannot be trained on the entirety of internet data in the same way that large language models can. This difference presents a challenge for developing a truly general robotics model.

PHOTO: GENERALIST/FORBES

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