Physical Intelligence is reportedly in talks to raise $1 billion, again

Physical Intelligence, a budding robotics startup based in San Francisco, is reportedly negotiating to secure approximately $1 billion in fresh funding, which would push its valuation past $11 billion, as reported by Bloomberg. This potential deal would represent a remarkable surge, effectively doubling the company’s previous valuation of $5.6 billion in just a matter of four months. The investment round is expected to feature participation from Founders Fund, while Lightspeed Venture Partners is also in discussions to join the funding efforts alongside returning investors Thrive Capital and Lux Capital. However, it’s important to note that the negotiations are still in the preliminary phase, and specifics may evolve as talks progress. In January, TechCrunch visited the headquarters of Physical Intelligence, where co-founder Sergey Levine articulated the company’s vision: “Think of it like ChatGPT, but for robots.” At that time, the startup had already secured over $1 billion in funding and had around 80 employees dedicated to creating general-purpose AI models designed to enable robots to handle diverse tasks, ranging from folding laundry to peeling vegetables. Co-founder Lachy Groom indicated that the company does not have a defined timeline for commercialization, a stance that seems acceptable to its investors. “There’s no limit to how much money we can really put to work,” Groom remarked, emphasizing the continual need for computational resources to tackle challenges in the robotics domain.