Bloomberg News reported on Friday that Amazon (AMZN.O), Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab and other big technology companies are investing in startup Figure AI that develops human-like robot.
Investors are betting on these startups that they might outpace bigger rivals after the launch of OpenAI’s viral chatbot ChatGPT in November 2022.
There are more and more big-name investors with deep pockets backing a startup that wants to put humanoid robot in warehouses around the world.
According to the report, Intel’s (INTC.O) venture capital arm, LG Innotek, Samsung’s investment group, as well as Parkway Venture Capital and Align Ventures are among the investors.
According to the report, ARK Venture Fund, Aliya Capital Partners, and Tamarack are also among the startup’s investors.
According to a Friday Bloomberg report, Figure AI Inc. has raised about $675 million from investors like Jeff Bezos and Microsoft Corporation.
The company’s website says it aims to create autonomous humanoid workers to fill labor shortages.
According to the company, Figure 01 is an AI-powered robot that can think, learn, and interact with humans safely. The robots will perform dangerous warehouse tasks that aren’t being filled by humans.
Nvidia Corp., which just this week announced $22.1 billion of revenue in its fourth quarter, stunning analysts and the AI industry, is another big backer. According to Bloomberg, OpenAI once considered acquiring Figure.
Bloomberg reported that Jeff Bezos has invested $100 million in Figure’s mission through his firm Explore Investments, LLC, and Microsoft is investing $95 million in robot startup.
A fund affiliated with Amazon.com and Nvidia both pledged $50 million, as well as Intel Corp.’s investing arm giving $25 million; OpenAI has pledged $5 million.
Bloomberg reported that Figure was valued at about $2 billion pre-money.
In addition to Figure’s funding, several companies, including Tesla, are developing their own robots.
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