Robotics firm Generalist secures $200 million, pushes valuation to $3 billion

Generalist, a robotics startup launched in 2024 by former Google DeepMind researchers Pete Florence and Andy Zeng together with ex-Boston Dynamics engineer Andrew Barry, announced a new financing round that adds nearly $200 million, according to a regulatory filing. The injection, led by venture capital firm 8VC, lifts the company’s total capital raised to $600 million and pushes its valuation to $3 billion. This follows a $400 million Series B led by Radical Ventures that was disclosed in June at a $2 billion valuation.

Generalist’s AI foundation model, now in its Gen 1.5 iteration, claims robots can acquire new skills from video demonstrations as short as three to twelve seconds. Early backers span 8VC, Radical Ventures, Nvidia, Union Square Ventures, Bezos Expeditions and AI researcher Fei-Fei Li, while the firm works with a limited set of customers to refine its technology. Rivals such as Physical Intelligence, SoftBank-backed Skild AI and Genesis AI are also pursuing broad-robot AI models, reflecting investor hopes for a “ChatGPT moment” in robotics, though some venture partners caution that fully general robot intelligence may still be years away.