SoftBank Group and Nvidia are reportedly in advanced talks to lead an investment of more than $1 billion in Skild AI at a valuation of $14 billion. The startup was valued at $4.7 billion just seven months ago, when it raised $500 million from investors including SoftBank, LG Technology Ventures, Samsung, and Nvidia.
Building a single intelligence layer for every robot
Skild AI founded in 2023 by Deepak Pathak and Abhinav Gupta stands out in a robotics landscape dominated by custom machines and proprietary hardware. Rather than building robots, the company is developing a robot-agnostic intelligence model that can be adapted across different designs and tasks. This approach promises a future where robotics software resembles a shared operating system capable of powering industrial arms, household helpers, loader bots and warehouse movers alike.
In July, the startup introduced Skild Brain, a general-purpose robotic model showcased in videos performing flexible tasks such as picking up dishes and climbing stairs. The demonstration attracted industry attention for its ability to generalise skills across robot formats. Skild has already secured partnerships with LG CNS and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, signalling plans to build an ecosystem rather than remain a stand-alone product.
A new wave of investment for robotics brains
Investment in robotics intelligence is surging. Physical Intelligence, another startup working on software-based robotic cognition, recently raised $600 million at a $5.6 billion valuation in a round led by CapitalG.
Even more massive valuations are emerging among humanoid-robot developers. Figure raised over $1 billion at a $39 billion valuation, while 1X has reportedly been in talks to secure up to $1 billion at a $10 billion valuation.
Whether the future of robotics favors humanoid machines or software-first platforms remains an open question and the outcome will determine where trillions of dollars in automation investment flow next.
A shift in the robotics race
If the deal closes, SoftBank and Nvidia’s participation would strengthen two critical elements of Skild’s strategy: computational scale and global distribution.
For Nvidia, it represents another step in expanding beyond chips into robotics software intelligence. For SoftBank, it echoes its long-held thesis that robotics will become foundational to the future of work, logistics, manufacturing, and home services.
Skild AI’s rapid rise suggests an important shift wherein investors are no longer betting only on robots that can walk, run, or lift, but on the universal intelligence needed to make any robot useful. If its model delivers on its promise, the startup could become the software engine behind the next generation of machines.
