SoftBank in Talks for $500M Investment in Skilled AI
Japanese tech giant SoftBank is reportedly in discussions to invest $500 million in robotics startup Skilled AI, which would raise the company’s valuation to $4 billion, according to reports from Bloomberg and the Financial Times, as cited by TechCrunch.
The two-year-old startup had previously raised $300 million in July, based on a $1.5 billion valuation. Investors at the time included Jeff Bezos, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Coatue Management.
Skilled AI’s founders, Deepak Pathak and Abhinav Gupta, stated that their AI model can be used across various robotic platforms and can be easily adapted for specific applications.
The intersection of artificial intelligence and robotics has garnered significant interest from global investors, particularly Jeff Bezos, who has been increasing his investments in robotics technology.
In November, a startup named Physical Intelligence raised $400 million, reaching a valuation of $2 billion, with Bezos, Lux Capital, and Thrive Capital leading the investment round.
Additionally, in February, Figure AI, a company developing AI-powered humanoid robots, secured $675 million in funding. Major investors included Microsoft, OpenAI Startup Fund, NVIDIA, Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund, and Jeff Bezos.
