Nov 21, 2025 - Business

VCs are funding the AI-powered robot revolution

Dan Primack

Illustration of money raining down on a smirking robot wearing sunglasses. — Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios

Physical Intelligence, a San Francisco-based developer of AI software for robots, has raised $600 million led by Alphabet's CapitalG at a $5.6 billion valuation.

Why it matters: There's tons of talk about how AI could lead to a white-collar jobpocalypse, in a reversal of the 1980s and 1990s factory automation boom. "Learn to plumb, not to code."

But VCs are pumping a ton of cash into marrying AI and robotics, which suggests that all collar colors could get singed.

Other investors in PI round include Lux Capital, Thrive Capital, Jeff Bezos, Emergence, Index Ventures and T. Rowe Price.

Elsewhere: Flexion, a Swiss developer of software for humanoid robots, raised $50 million in Series A funding from DST Global Partners, NVentures, Redalpine, Prosus Ventures, and Moonfire Ventures.

Go deeper, via Bloomberg: "Physical Intelligence has invested heavily in gathering real-world data to teach its models. Some recent AI startups have taken more experimental approaches, including developing so-called world models that can generate simulated data to train models."

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VCs are funding the AI-powered robot revolution

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