Robot startup Skild AI has publicly released results from its first year of development, offering a preview of its foundation model for robotics, termed “Physical AI.” The model is designed as a general-purpose control system – a robot brain- capable of operating across a range of robot types, physical environments, and task domains.
According to the company, Physical AI enables a single model to manage a wide variety of robotic embodiments, from quadrupeds and humanoids to tabletop arms and mobile manipulators. The system aims to function in both domestic and industrial contexts, with applications ranging from operating household appliances to navigating unstable terrain.
Skild AI co-founders Deepak Pathak and Abhinav Gupta stated that the company’s approach contrasts with robotics solutions designed for narrowly defined tasks. Instead, Physical AI is intended to generalize across robot morphologies and use cases. Gupta noted that the same model has been applied to multiple robots and task types without the need for retraining on each scenario.
One of the company’s primary challenges has been the scarcity of large-scale robotics datasets. To address this, Skild AI has used simulated environments and publicly available human video data for pretraining, followed by post-training on smaller sets of targeted real-world data. This combination, the company claims, has allowed it to develop a scalable model that performs under real-world conditions.
The company also emphasized the safety and adaptability of the model in human-robot interaction scenarios. Skild AI stated that its system employs end-to-end AI techniques that result in controlled force application and responsiveness to external disturbances, enabling operation in shared spaces with humans.
Founded in 2023, Skild AI is composed of team members with backgrounds in AI research and robotics systems from companies such as Tesla, Nvidia, Meta, and Amazon. The company has secured funding from investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Coatue, SoftBank, Jeff Bezos (via Bezos Expeditions), Sequoia Capital, and Amazon.
A demonstration video released by the company shows robots performing a range of tasks under varying conditions, including assembly, mobility on uneven surfaces, and cooperative behavior with humans. Skild AI has offices in Pittsburgh and the San Francisco Bay Area.
