Robotics AI developer FieldAI has reportedly raised $700 million in funding

FieldAI Inc., a startup that develops artificial intelligence models for robots, is reportedly seeking $700 million in funding.

A source told Business Insider said today that the round could value the company at $10 billion. That’s five times what FieldAI was worth last August. The company is understood to have already signed a term sheet, a non-binding preliminary version of a donation agreement.

The report did not name the investors expected to participate in the deal. Large financing rounds in the growth phase often draw contributions from a startup’s existing backers. FieldAI’s investor list includes Bezos Expeditions, Nvidia Corp.’s NVentures fund. and Intel Capital.

Engineers often need to provide their robots with a map of the environment in which they will work. Creating such maps is a time-consuming task, especially when they need to cover a large area. Additionally, static maps do not take into account the fact that environments such as construction sites change regularly. This can lead to potentially significant accuracy gaps.

FieldAI says its AI models don’t need a map to navigate. They also don’t require GPS access, internet connection, or custom itineraries. This significantly reduces the amount of work required to set up a robot’s navigation stack, reducing the cost of automation initiatives.

FieldAI’s models can automatically adjust their behavior in response to risks. For example, they can slow down a robot when it enters an area of ​​a factory where the lighting is not working. Such changes make it easier to avoid collisions and navigation errors.

FieldAI says its models can run on a variety of systems, from autonomous vehicles to humanoid robots. It is in March partner with Boston Dynamics Inc. to add support for the latter company’s four-legged Spot robot. The integration allows industrial customers to automate certain inspection tasks of their equipment.

Industrial robots often include not only cameras, but also lidar devices, radar devices, and other sensors. FieldAI converts data from these sensors into a digital twin of the environment in which the robots operate. A digital twin is similar to a simulation in many ways. The difference is that it is continuously updated with data from the real environment it emulates, increasing output accuracy.

FieldAI customers can use the generated digital twins to virtually test location changes. For example, a manufacturer could simulate the effects of changes on the factory floor before implementing them. FieldAI says its digital twins can also be used for AI training.

The company reportedly surpassed “$100 million in revenue and customer contracts” last June. According to today’s report, that number has now surpassed $135 million. FieldAI has more than 30 customers in industries such as construction, energy and the public sector.

Photo: FieldAI