Nvidia Corp. and SoftBank Group Corp. are reportedly holding talks with the robotic artificial intelligence startup Skild AI over a $1 billion investment. The proposed round would bring the startup’s valuation to more than $14 billion.

Skild AI was last valued at $4.7 billion after raising $500 million in May from investors including SoftBank, Nvidia, LG Technology Ventures, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and others.

Founded in 2023 by a group of former Meta Platforms Inc. AI researchers, Skild AI is trying to overcome one of the major obstacles that’s preventing the wider deployment of autonomous robots in factories, warehouses and other workplaces. The startup has created a robot-agnostic foundation model that can be customized to fit robots of almost any form-factor and serve as their “brains.”

According to Skild AI, its foundational model is designed to enable robots to perform a much broader range of tasks than they can do currently, including perceiving their local environment manipulating objects, locomotion and navigation. The model can be integrated with various types of robots, including humanoid bots designed to mirror the dexterity of real humans, quadruped robots that can travel across diverse terrains, and factory-style robotic arms.

One of the advantages of Skild AI’s model is that it can teach robots to do things that they weren’t even designed to do. The company calls these skills “emergent capabilities,” and although they’re relatively simple actions, they could potentially make a real difference for robots working in physical environments.

For instance, if a robot in a warehouse drops an object on the floor, Skild AI’s model can get the robot to pick it up again. It’s a simple skill to be sure, but it’s also going to be pretty essential if companies want robots to one day replace humans. Skild AI says it can also teach robots to do things such as rotate objects to get a better grip on them. Importantly, these skills show that robots can learn new tasks on the job and improve over time.

The company showed off its most recent general-purpose model, called Skild Brain, in July when it posted a series of videos online that demonstrate robots doing different tasks, such as picking up dishes and walking up and down a flight of stairs. At the time, the startup also revealed it has established strategic partnerships with LG CNS Co. Ltd., which is LG’s cloud computing and AI subsidiary, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.

Reuters, which first reported on the funding discussions, said SoftBank’s interest in the startup stems from its Chief Executive Masayoshi Son, who has huge enthusiasm over the potential of robotics. In October, the company acquired the robotics business of the Swiss engineering group ABB for $5.4 billion, and Son himself was said to have been impressed by Skild AI’s technology in a number of pilot projects.

Interest in robotics has accelerated amid the AI boom, because the technology dramatically increases their potential to replace humans in different kinds of work environments. Robotics startups have attracted billions of dollars in funding, with one of the most recent raises coming from a startup called Physical Intelligence, which is backed by Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos and closed on a $600 million funding round last month. It’s also working on robot “brains,” with an initial focus on robotic arms.

Technology giants such as Meta Platforms, Google LLC and Amazon have also invested heavily in AI for robots. Meanwhile, dozens of startups are trying to compete with Skild AI, with Gecko Robotics Inc., Genesis AI, Cobionix Corp. and Field AI Inc. also raising significant amounts earlier this year.

Image: Skild AI