Generalist AI in Talks to Raise at $3 Billion Valuation

Robotics startup Generalist AI is in talks to raise a funding round that would value the company at $3 billion, according to people familiar with the discussions — a 50% jump from the $2 billion valuation it commanded just one month ago.

Venture firm 8VC is expected to lead the round, according to people familiar with the discussions. The round is still in progress, and the terms could change. Generalist AI and 8VC did not respond to requests for comment.

The speed of the repricing stands out even by venture capital standards. In late June, Generalist announced it had raised $400 million to develop more sophisticated AI models for robots. Radical Ventures led that round, with participation from 8VC, Union Square Ventures, Nvidia, and Bezos Expeditions.

Now 8VC, an existing backer, is positioned to anchor a second financing at a materially higher price, signaling how aggressively investors are bidding up startups in "physical AI" — AI systems that can act in the real world.

Generalist competes in a fast-expanding field. Physical Intelligence is valued at more than $11 billion. Skild AI is valued at more than $14 billion. Field AI is valued at $2 billion. Genesis AI, according to Bloomberg, is in talks to raise roughly $500 million at a $3 billion valuation — the same number now attached to Generalist.

Generalist was founded in 2024 by three robotics researchers: Pete Florence and Andy Zeng, both formerly of Google DeepMind, and Andrew Barry, formerly of Boston Dynamics. Its angel investors include Xiaomi cofounder Bin Lin, Stanford professor and World Labs cofounder Fei-Fei Li, and AngelList cofounder Naval Ravikant.

The company does not build robots. It builds the AI "brains" that power them. Its models are designed to work across different robots and environments — factories and laboratories, homes and even space — giving machines the intelligence to understand and act in the physical world.

Its latest model, GEN-1, teaches robots basic physical tasks. The company has released videos showing robots running its software folding laundry, sorting Lego bricks, and using a whisk to mix baking ingredients.

If the round closes at $3 billion, Generalist will have doubled its valuation in roughly a month — a pace that suggests investors now see robot intelligence software, not chatbots, as the defining AI bet of the current cycle.