Genesis AI Secures $105M in Seed Funding from Eclipse and Khosla to Power Next-Gen Robot AI Models
Genesis AI Unveils a New Robot Brain
Imagine a robot that can pick up lab samples, tidy up the office, and maybe even offer a cup of coffee—without you having to write lines of code. That’s the promise Genesis AI is chasing, and they’ve just pulled a hefty 105‑million‑dollar seed round led by Eclipse and Khosla Ventures to turn the dream into reality.
Founders: A Dynamic Duo
- Zhou Xian – The robotics PhD from CMU who brought grit and a knack for turning complex physics into code.
- Théophile Gervet – A former Mistral research scientist who knows how to pull data out of thin air (well, actually, from simulations).
Why Synthetic Data? The Physics Engine Secret Sauce
Unlike the normal LLMs that munch on text, robot AIs need to learn how things move, feel, and react. Capturing real‑world data is a money‑sinking time sink. Genesis decided to sidestep the chaos of the physical world by feeding its models creature‑like simulations instead.
That simulation engine? It’s the brainchild of Zhou’s collab with 18 universities, now assembled into a 20‑person powerhouse of robots, ML nerds, and 3D artists. Because it’s proprietary, the team claims it beats competitors that lean on Nvidia’s slower, less flashy software.
Competitive Landscape
- Physical Intelligence – Secured a 400‑million‑dollar round.
- Skild AI – Picked up a 4‑billion‑dollar valuation earlier this year.
- Genesis AI – Stepping onto the scene with fresh capital and fresh ideas.
So, why should you care? Because a fully distributed robot partner could one day handle everything from your daily chores to high‑stakes lab experiments, making your life easier and much more entertaining.
Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda
Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital, Elad Gil — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They’re here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $600+ before prices rise.
Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda
Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They’re here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $675 before prices rise.
San Francisco Event: Oct 27‑29, 2025
REGISTER NOW
“It’s a big unknown: Will anybody have a large robotics foundation model that will generalize across tasks?” Kanu Gulati, partner at Khosla Ventures, told TechCrunch.
She followed up, “Of all the teams we’ve seen, we like Genesis’s plan to build a robotics foundation model.” She’s helped cheer on a project that’s aiming for the gold‑standard of AI—one foundation that can kick into any task from simple pick‑and‑place to complex manipulation.
Genesis’ Playbook
- Leverages synthetic data to train a model so robust it’ll shrug off the weird edge‑cases your robots usually dread.
- Working out of two hubs: the Silicon Valley tech hustle and a sleek Parisian lab, meaning the model’s learning is as cosmopolitan as your coffee cup.
- Target: All eyes on the robotics community by year’s end, with a model rollout that’s more “launch” than “launchpad.”
So if you’re hoping someone can finally hand you a one‑size‑fits‑all robot brains, Genesis might just be the team to watch. Stay tuned—because in 2025, the future of robots might just be a single, global model, and the countdown is ticking.
