Generalist, a robotics startup, has reached a $3 billion valuation. This follows a new round of funding led by venture firm 8VC.
Two people with knowledge of the deal shared the details. Generalist and 8VC have not responded to requests for comment.
The new funding totals close to $200 million. A regulatory filing confirmed the amount.
This new cash is an extension of an earlier round. In June, Generalist raised $400 million in a Series B round led by Radical Ventures.
That round valued the company at $2 billion at the time. With the new extension, the round's total funding now stands at $600 million.
Generalist was founded in 2024. The founders are Pete Florence and Andy Zeng, both former Google DeepMind researchers, along with Andrew Barry, a former Boston Dynamics engineer.
Early backers of the company include 8VC and Radical Ventures. Nvidia, Union Square Ventures, Bezos Expeditions, and AI researcher Fei-Fei Li have also invested.
Until recently, Generalist kept a low profile. The company operated with little public attention.
Generalist builds AI models designed to work across different types of robots. The goal is a single system that can control many robot types.
The company recently released a model called Gen 1.5. According to Generalist, this model can teach robots new tasks using video clips as short as 3 to 12 seconds.
Generalist is currently working with a small group of customers. Sources say the company is using their feedback to adjust the model for specific tasks.
Generalist is not the only company chasing this kind of technology. Several other startups are building similar AI systems for robots.
Physical Intelligence is one competitor, reportedly valued at $11 billion. Skild AI, backed by SoftBank, is valued at $14 billion.
Genesis AI is another player in this space. As of last month, that company was reportedly in talks to raise funding at a $3 billion valuation.
Investors are watching this sector closely. Some believe robotics could see a shift similar to the rise of chatbot technology, where robots complete general tasks without needing separate training for each one.
Other investors remain more cautious. They point out that robots cannot train on the same volume of data that language models use, since the internet does not contain equivalent amounts of physical robot data.
Generalist's $3 billion valuation places it in the same range as some of its top competitors. The company has not shared plans for additional funding rounds.
