Alphabet unit behind Gemini, Google Cloud, Google DeepMind and the Intrinsic robotics platform
- Skild AI and Figure top the largest humanoid and embodied-AI funding rounds of 2025-2026, as money moves from robot bodies to robot brains
Skild AI's $1.4 billion Series C, led by SoftBank, and Figure AI's $1 billion Series C, led by Parkway Venture Capital, are the two largest humanoid and embodied-AI rounds in ROBOTNESS's verified records since January 2025, and together make up 41% of the $5.86 billion disclosed across 22 rounds. Humanoid makers took 70% of disclosed money in 2025, but developers of robot foundation models have taken 71% in 2026 so far, and NVIDIA joined seven rounds without leading one.
Mentioned - FANUC to ship AI Welding Agent that reads drawings and writes robot weld programs, built on Google's Gemini Enterprise
FANUC said on Sept. 11 it will begin shipping an AI Welding Agent at the end of December 2026. The system photographs a part drawing with the CRX tablet teach pendant and generates welding conditions and robot motion without manual teaching, using Google Cloud's Gemini Enterprise. Price was not disclosed.
Partner - Yaskawa puts Google DeepMind's Gemini Robotics ER 1.6 inside MOTOMAN NEXT to build an agentic industrial robot
Yaskawa Electric said on July 15 it had developed an agentic robot system with Google DeepMind that uses Gemini Robotics ER 1.6 as the decision layer for its MOTOMAN NEXT robot. The system plans and executes tasks from high-level instructions without detailed teaching and recovers from errors on its own. Applications and delivery timing will be announced later.
Partner - Korea makes physical AI one of three national mega projects, aiming for global top three in AI robots by 2030
Seoul on June 29 named physical AI alongside semiconductors and AI data centres as a national mega project and set out a '3M' plan for AI robots. The plan targets ten industry-specific humanoids commercialised by 2028, 1,000 robot deployments a year, data factories for ten sectors and a robot foundry in Saemangeum tied to Hyundai Motor Group investment.
Mentioned - FANUC opens its robots to Google's Intrinsic and Gemini and deepens NVIDIA ties in a two-day physical AI push
FANUC said on May 13 that all of its robots will be fully supported on Intrinsic's enterprise software platform and that it has joined Google DeepMind's Gemini Robotics trusted tester programme, after shipping more than 1,000 robots for physical AI uses since December. Two days later it expanded its NVIDIA work, linking ROBOGUIDE with Isaac Sim, training a dual-arm robot with Isaac GR00T N and moving a collision-avoidance system to Jetson Thor.
Partner - Google DeepMind's Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 teaches robots to read gauges, lifting accuracy to 93% with Boston Dynamics' Spot as first showcase
Google DeepMind released Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 on April 14, 2026, an embodied reasoning model built on Gemini 3.0 Flash and offered as a preview through the Gemini API and Google AI Studio. DeepMind said the model reads industrial instruments correctly 86% of the time, or 93% with an agentic zoom and code execution step, against 23% for ER 1.5. Boston Dynamics is using the capability for Spot facility inspections.
Mentioned - Apptronik raises $520 million Series A-X at triple its earlier valuation, taking the round past $935 million as it readies a new Apollo
Austin humanoid maker Apptronik said on 11 February 2026 that it had closed a $520 million Series A-X extension priced at three times its Series A valuation, lifting total Series A funding above $935 million. John Deere, AT&T Ventures and Qatar Investment Authority joined returning backers B Capital, Google, Mercedes-Benz and PEAK6, and the company said the money will pay for Apollo production, training and data facilities and a new robot due in 2026.
investor