Bezos and Nvidia Team Up with OpenAI to Fund Startups in Humanoid Robot Technology Race
(Reuters) – Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, Nvidia and other big tech names are investing in a startup figure in an AI company that develops human-like robots, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the situation.
Figure AI, which is also backed by ChatGPT maker OpenAI and Microsoft, is reportedly raising about $675 million in a funding round with a preliminary estimate of about $2 billion.
Bezos had committed $100 million through his company, Explore Investments LLC, and Microsoft is putting in $95 million, while Nvidia and Amazon’s affiliate fund are each offering $50 million, the report added.
Investments in AI startups have picked up since the November 2022 launch of OpenAI’s viral chatbot, ChatGPT, as investors sensed an opportunity and bet on these startups to outperform larger competitors.
OpenAI, which at one point considered buying Figure, invested $5 million, the report added.
According to the report, backers include Intel’s venture capital company LG Innotek, Samsung’s investment group, and venture capital firms Parkway Venture Capital and Align Ventures.
According to the report, ARK Venture Fund, Aliya Capital Partners and Tamarack are also investors in the startup.
Amazon, Nvidia, Microsoft and Intel declined to comment, while other names mentioned in the report, including Figure AI, did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Last year, Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Figure, which develops general-purpose humanoid robots that could operate in different environments and handle a variety of tasks from warehouses to retail, raised $70 million in its first external round from executives at Parkway Venture Capital.
