Robots Learn to Fold Pants: The Future of AI?

Physical Intelligence, a San Francisco-based company, is developing general-purpose robots through a continuous data collection and training loop, akin to an "AI for robots." Researchers are training foundation models that are then evaluated on stations performing tasks like folding laundry and peeling vegetables. This approach uses accessible hardware, costing around $3,500 per arm, emphasizing that strong AI intelligence can compensate for less advanced hardware.

The company, co-founded by UC Berkeley professor Sergey Levine, has secured over $1 billion in funding. Unlike competitors such as Skild AI, which focuses on immediate commercial deployment and revenue generation, Physical Intelligence prioritizes fundamental research. This strategy involves cross-embodiment learning and diverse data sources, aiming to lower the cost of adapting autonomy to new robot platforms.