Latest news with #BeyondImagination
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Elon Musk Rival? Ray Kurzweil's Beyond Imagination Lands $100M Deal As Tesla, Nvidia, Meta Race Toward AI-Powered Humanoid Robots
Ray Kurzweil, the AI futurist best known for predicting the rise of the singularity, is taking a major step toward turning science fiction into industrial reality. His humanoid robotics company, Beyond Imagination, has secured a $100 million investment from Gauntlet Ventures in a Series B round that pushes the startup's valuation to $500 million, Reuters reports. Founded alongside scientist, entrepreneur, and filmmaker Harry Kloor, Beyond Imagination is building Beomni, an advanced humanoid robot developed for deployment in high-demand industrial settings, according to the company's website. Reuters says that the startup is also working on a universal operating system called Aura, designed to streamline communication and functionality between humans, robots, and legacy machinery. Don't Miss: Hasbro, MGM, and Skechers trust this AI marketing firm — 'Scrolling To UBI' — Deloitte's #1 fastest-growing software company allows users to earn money on their phones. Kurzweil's long-held vision of a future dominated by intelligent machines is moving from bookshelves to production lines. His prediction that artificial intelligence would exceed human intelligence by 2045 once raised eyebrows, Reuters reports. According to Bloomberg, AI startups raised a record $97 billion in funding in 2024 alone, making artificial intelligence one of the most heavily backed sectors in venture capital. According to Gauntlet Ventures co-founder Oliver Carmack, the decision to back Beyond Imagination stemmed from the company's capacity to address a looming global issue: the skilled labor shortage. The startup's bot, with its AI-driven adaptability, is being positioned as a solution for industries like pharmaceutical manufacturing, chip fabrication, and automotive assembly, sectors that demand high precision and long-term workforce support, Reuters says. Beyond Imagination is currently testing its humanoid robots and seeking enterprise partners for deployment in industrial settings, aiming to help revolutionize U.S. manufacturing through AI-driven automation, according to Reuters. Trending: Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — The company isn't short on heavyweight support. According to Beyond Imagination's website, its advisory board includes former Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) CEO Paul Jacobs, motivational speaker and business strategist Tony Robbins, and former Paramount Pictures Chair Jim Gianopulos. Their backing, combined with Gauntlet's $100 million investment, sets Beyond Imagination apart in a market flooded with robotics startups vying for capital and attention. According to Reuters, Gauntlet Ventures is the sole investor in this Series B round, a bold show of confidence in both Kurzweil's vision and the company's near-term commercial potential. This latest funding round comes at a time when several major players are entering or expanding their own robotics divisions. Tesla's (NASDAQ:TSLA) Optimus robot, Meta's (NASDAQ:META) AI systems, and Nvidia's (NASDAQ:NVDA) development tools are all pushing the industry forward. Kurzweil's company is positioning Aura as a system designed to integrate humans, robots, and legacy machinery, Reuters the hype, progress in robotics has remained slower than in conversational AI. According to Vox, while chatbots and other language-based AIs have surged ahead, powered by vast amounts of readily available training data from text, images, and video, physical robots remain years behind. Unlike language models, which can be trained in parallel across millions of central processing unit cores and datasets scraped from the internet, robots need to learn by interacting with the physical world in real time, Vox says. As industrial sectors look for automation that delivers beyond traditional robotics, Beyond Imagination may lead that charge with fresh capital and an AI strategy focused on industrial deployment. Read Next: Invest where it hurts — and help millions heal:.Image: Shutterstock Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge's one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today's competitive market. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? APPLE (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report TESLA (TSLA): Free Stock Analysis Report This article Elon Musk Rival? Ray Kurzweil's Beyond Imagination Lands $100M Deal As Tesla, Nvidia, Meta Race Toward AI-Powered Humanoid Robots originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
The Star
20-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
Exclusive-Ray Kurzweil's humanoid robot startup in talks for $100 million investment
FILE PHOTO: A message reading "AI artificial intelligence," a keyboard and robot hands are seen in this illustration created on January 27, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo (Reuters) -A humanoid robotics startup co-founded by prominent artificial-intelligence futurist Ray Kurzweil said on Tuesday that venture capital firm Gauntlet Ventures will back its $100 million Series B funding round. The company, Beyond Imagination, will be valued at $500 million, and venture capital firm Gauntlet Ventures will be the round's sole investor. Kurzweil is known for popularizing the term "the singularity," when he predicted two decades ago that by 2045, artificial intelligence would surpass human intelligence and embark on a path of accelerating self-enhancement. These ideas, which once seemed like science fiction, are now viewed as mainstream by many technologists. Beyond Imagination is co-founded by scientist, entrepreneur and filmmaker Harry Kloor. The company has developed a humanoid robot — the Beyond Bot - and accompanying AI models that it intends to deploy in industrial settings such as factories, pharmaceutical plants and chip manufacturing facilities, said Gauntlet Ventures co-founder Oliver Carmack. The company has been testing its robots and is now looking for large enterprises into which they can be deployed, Carmack said, adding that he chose to back Beyond Imagination because of its potential to revolutionize U.S. manufacturing and address the projected global shortage of skilled labor. Major tech companies including Nvidia, Meta Platforms and Tesla, alongside various startups, are rushing to make humanoid robots, and are betting that recent advances in AI will also lead to breakthroughs in robots and automation. In October last year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that "a lot of progress" has been made with its humanoid robot, Optimus, which could perform many daily tasks. Progress on robots has been slow, however, as researchers have found that the language-related AI breakthroughs driving chatbot development have not necessarily helped with understanding of the physical world. Many companies are spending enormous sums to collect the real-world training data necessary to train models that can power robots. In addition to humanoid robots, Beyond Imagination is also developing Aura, which co-founder Kloor described as a universal operating system for intelligent manufacturing, allowing humans, robots and legacy machines to work together. Beyond Imagination has attracted an eclectic roster of advisers, including former Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs, motivational speaker Tony Robbins, and onetime Paramount Pictures chairman Jim Gianopulos. (Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles and Anna Tong in San Francisco; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
CNA
20-05-2025
- Business
- CNA
Exclusive-Ray Kurzweil's humanoid robot startup in talks for $100 million investment
A humanoid robotics startup co-founded by prominent artificial-intelligence futurist Ray Kurzweil said on Tuesday that venture capital firm Gauntlet Ventures will back its $100 million Series B funding round. The company, Beyond Imagination, will be valued at $500 million, and venture capital firm Gauntlet Ventures will be the round's sole investor. Kurzweil is known for popularizing the term "the singularity," when he predicted two decades ago that by 2045, artificial intelligence would surpass human intelligence and embark on a path of accelerating self-enhancement. These ideas, which once seemed like science fiction, are now viewed as mainstream by many technologists. Beyond Imagination is co-founded by scientist, entrepreneur and filmmaker Harry Kloor. The company has developed a humanoid robot — the Beyond Bot - and accompanying AI models that it intends to deploy in industrial settings such as factories, pharmaceutical plants and chip manufacturing facilities, said Gauntlet Ventures co-founder Oliver Carmack. The company has been testing its robots and is now looking for large enterprises into which they can be deployed, Carmack said, adding that he chose to back Beyond Imagination because of its potential to revolutionize U.S. manufacturing and address the projected global shortage of skilled labor. Major tech companies including Nvidia, Meta Platforms and Tesla, alongside various startups, are rushing to make humanoid robots, and are betting that recent advances in AI will also lead to breakthroughs in robots and automation. In October last year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that "a lot of progress" has been made with its humanoid robot, Optimus, which could perform many daily tasks. Progress on robots has been slow, however, as researchers have found that the language-related AI breakthroughs driving chatbot development have not necessarily helped with understanding of the physical world. Many companies are spending enormous sums to collect the real-world training data necessary to train models that can power robots. In addition to humanoid robots, Beyond Imagination is also developing Aura, which co-founder Kloor described as a universal operating system for intelligent manufacturing, allowing humans, robots and legacy machines to work together. Beyond Imagination has attracted an eclectic roster of advisers, including former Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs, motivational speaker Tony Robbins, and onetime Paramount Pictures chairman Jim Gianopulos.
Reuters
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- Reuters
Exclusive: Ray Kurzweil's humanoid robot startup in talks for $100 million investment
May 20 (Reuters) - A humanoid robotics startup co-founded by prominent artificial-intelligence futurist Ray Kurzweil said on Tuesday that venture capital firm Gauntlet Ventures will back its $100 million Series B funding round. The company, Beyond Imagination, will be valued at $500 million, and venture capital firm Gauntlet Ventures will be the round's sole investor. Kurzweil is known for popularizing the term "the singularity," when he predicted two decades ago that by 2045, artificial intelligence would surpass human intelligence and embark on a path of accelerating self-enhancement. These ideas, which once seemed like science fiction, are now viewed as mainstream by many technologists. Beyond Imagination is co-founded by scientist, entrepreneur and filmmaker Harry Kloor. The company has developed a humanoid robot — the Beyond Bot - and accompanying AI models that it intends to deploy in industrial settings such as factories, pharmaceutical plants and chip manufacturing facilities, said Gauntlet Ventures co-founder Oliver Carmack. The company has been testing its robots and is now looking for large enterprises into which they can be deployed, Carmack said, adding that he chose to back Beyond Imagination because of its potential to revolutionize U.S. manufacturing and address the projected global shortage of skilled labor. Major tech companies including Nvidia(NVDA.O), opens new tab, Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab and Tesla(TSLA.O), opens new tab, alongside various startups, are rushing to make humanoid robots, and are betting that recent advances in AI will also lead to breakthroughs in robots and automation. In October last year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that "a lot of progress" has been made with its humanoid robot, Optimus, which could perform many daily tasks. Progress on robots has been slow, however, as researchers have found that the language-related AI breakthroughs driving chatbot development have not necessarily helped with understanding of the physical world. Many companies are spending enormous sums to collect the real-world training data necessary to train models that can power robots. In addition to humanoid robots, Beyond Imagination is also developing Aura, which co-founder Kloor described as a universal operating system for intelligent manufacturing, allowing humans, robots and legacy machines to work together. Beyond Imagination has attracted an eclectic roster of advisers, including former Qualcomm (QCOM.O), opens new tab CEO Paul Jacobs, motivational speaker Tony Robbins, and onetime Paramount Pictures chairman Jim Gianopulos.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Exclusive-Ray Kurzweil's humanoid robot startup in talks for $100 million investment
By Dawn Chmielewski, Anna Tong (Reuters) -A humanoid robotics startup co-founded by prominent artificial-intelligence futurist Ray Kurzweil said on Tuesday that venture capital firm Gauntlet Ventures will back its $100 million Series B funding round. The company, Beyond Imagination, will be valued at $500 million, and venture capital firm Gauntlet Ventures will be the round's sole investor. Kurzweil is known for popularizing the term "the singularity," when he predicted two decades ago that by 2045, artificial intelligence would surpass human intelligence and embark on a path of accelerating self-enhancement. These ideas, which once seemed like science fiction, are now viewed as mainstream by many technologists. Beyond Imagination is co-founded by scientist, entrepreneur and filmmaker Harry Kloor. The company has developed a humanoid robot — the Beyond Bot - and accompanying AI models that it intends to deploy in industrial settings such as factories, pharmaceutical plants and chip manufacturing facilities, said Gauntlet Ventures co-founder Oliver Carmack. The company has been testing its robots and is now looking for large enterprises into which they can be deployed, Carmack said, adding that he chose to back Beyond Imagination because of its potential to revolutionize U.S. manufacturing and address the projected global shortage of skilled labor. Major tech companies including Nvidia, Meta Platforms and Tesla, alongside various startups, are rushing to make humanoid robots, and are betting that recent advances in AI will also lead to breakthroughs in robots and automation. In October last year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that "a lot of progress" has been made with its humanoid robot, Optimus, which could perform many daily tasks. Progress on robots has been slow, however, as researchers have found that the language-related AI breakthroughs driving chatbot development have not necessarily helped with understanding of the physical world. Many companies are spending enormous sums to collect the real-world training data necessary to train models that can power robots. In addition to humanoid robots, Beyond Imagination is also developing Aura, which co-founder Kloor described as a universal operating system for intelligent manufacturing, allowing humans, robots and legacy machines to work together. Beyond Imagination has attracted an eclectic roster of advisers, including former Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs, motivational speaker Tony Robbins, and onetime Paramount Pictures chairman Jim Gianopulos. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
