Skild AI Unveils Foundational Model to Power Next-Gen General-Purpose Robots Skild Brain equips robots with the ability to process spatial information and react to complex environments in real time capabilities typically out of reach for conventional automation tools
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Robotics startup Skild AI, founded by Deepak Pathak and Abhinav Gupta has launched Skild Brain, a foundational AI model aimed at enabling robots to perform a broad range of physical tasks with human-like adaptability. The model is designed for deployment across multiple robot platforms from humanoid systems to industrial automation units on factory floors.
The announcement signals a major advancement in the field of general-purpose robotics, where the industry is moving beyond task-specific machines to more versatile, learning-enabled systems. Skild Brain equips robots with the ability to process spatial information and react to complex environments in real time capabilities typically out of reach for conventional automation tools.
Demonstrations of Skild Brain show robots maintaining balance after being pushed, navigating stairs, and handling objects in cluttered spaces tasks that require advanced decision-making and situational awareness. These behaviors represent a shift toward physical intelligence that goes beyond pre-programmed motions.
What sets Skild Brain apart is its approach to training. Unlike vision or language models that benefit from vast internet data, robotics lacks large-scale open datasets. To overcome this, the model is trained on a blend of simulated environments and real-world video footage. Once deployed, each robot contributes feedback data that further refines the system, creating a "shared brain" across all machines.
"There's no plug-and-play dataset for robotics on the internet, so we had to build from the ground up," said CEO Deepak Pathak. Co-founder Abhinav Gupta, who previously led Meta's robotics lab in Pittsburgh, added that every robot running Skild Brain sends back new learning, helping the system continuously improve.
The startup, founded by former leaders from Tesla, Nvidia, and Meta, raised USD300 million in Series A funding last year, reaching a USD1.5 billion valuation. Its backers include major names such as Lightspeed Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Khosla Ventures, and Amazon's Jeff Bezos.
Skild AI has already begun collaborating with industry partners, including LG CNS, the IT services division of South Korea's LG Group, and other undisclosed clients in logistics and manufacturing sectors. The company also confirmed that Skild Brain incorporates safety protocols to prevent robots from exerting harmful force, ensuring responsible deployment in real-world environments.
