Amazon founder Jeff Bezos recently invested in a robotics startup — and he’s not the only billionaire putting money into the sector.
Here’s a look at some of the wealthy entrepreneurs backing robots:
Jeff Bezos
Bezos has invested in Physical Intelligence, which is working on software that’d allow robots to perform tasks like folding laundry, bagging groceries, and clearing tables.
The startup announced earlier this month it has raised $400 million in early-stage funding from Bezos, OpenAI, and VC firms Thrive Capital and Lux Capital at a valuation of more than $2 billion.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk has been working on the Optimus humanoid robot for years. At Tesla’s Robotaxi event last month, the robots poured drinks and played rock-paper-scissors with guests (though they were remotely controlled by humans).
Musk said this summer that Tesla will have “genuinely useful humanoid robots in low production” for the company’s internal use in 2025 and higher production for sale to other companies the following year.
Outside Tesla, Musk personally invested in Vicarious when it was an AI startup working on general intelligence for robots. Vicarious has since been acquired by Intrinsic, an AI robotics company at Google’s parent company, Alphabet.
Bill Gates
Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates has invested in Opentrons, which focuses on robotics in the healthcare industry. Gates considers himself optimistic about the potential of robots to improve human quality of life. Earlier this year, he named several robotics startups he’s excited about in a post on his blog.
Vinod Khosla
Khosla Ventures, the VC firm started by entrepreneur Vinod Khosla, led a $10 million seed funding round for Opentrons in 2018.
Mark Zuckerberg
Along with Musk, Zuckerberg was also a lead investor in a $40 million investment round in Vicarious in 2014.
Dustin Moskovitz
Vicarious in 2012 announced a $15 million Series A round led by Good Ventures, created by Facebook cofounder and Asana CEO Dustin Moskovitz and his wife, Cari Tuna.
Peter Thiel
Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund was one of Vicarious’ earliest backers. Thiel has also invested in Quantum Systems, a German drone robotics startup.
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