Tech giants pour millions into maker of humanoid robots

Bengaluru — Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, Nvidia and other big technology names are investing in start-up Figure AI that develops human-like robots, Bloomberg News reports, citing people with knowledge of the situation.

Figure AI, also backed by ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and Microsoft, is raising about $675m in a funding round that carried a pre-money valuation of about $2bn, according to Friday’s report.

Bezos had committed $100m through his firm Explore Investments and Microsoft is investing $95m, while Nvidia and an Amazon-affiliated fund are each providing $50m, according to the report.

Investments in artificial intelligence (AI) start-ups have sparked after the launch of OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT in November 2022, as investors sense an opportunity, betting on these start-ups that they might outpace bigger rivals.

OpenAI, which at one point considered acquiring Figure, is investing $5m, the report said.

Backers include Intel’s venture capital arm, LG Innotek, Samsung’s investment group, as well as venture firms Parkway Venture Capital and Align Ventures, the report said.

ARK Venture Fund, Aliya Capital Partners and Tamarack are also among investors in the start-up, according to the report.

Amazon, Nvidia, Microsoft and Intel declined to comment, while other names mentioned in the report, including Figure AI, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Last year, Sunnyvale, California-based Figure, which develops general-purpose humanoid robots that could work in different environments and handle a variety of tasks from warehouses to retail, raised $70m from investors led by Parkway Venture Capital in its first external round.

Reuters