SoftBank Group and Nvidia are reportedly negotiating to co-lead a considerable new funding round exceeding one billion dollars, valuing the rapidly ascending software firm Skild AI at approximately fourteen billion dollars, according to Reuters. This prospective infusion of capital underscores not only investor confidence in Skild AI’s ambitions but also reflects the accelerating convergence between artificial intelligence and robotics—two domains reshaping modern industry at an unprecedented pace.
The company, which was founded less than three years ago, had most recently achieved a valuation of 4.7 billion dollars as of May, following a half-billion-dollar fundraising effort. That previous round was spearheaded by SoftBank and drew participation from a range of globally recognized technology investors, including LG Technology Ventures, Samsung, and Nvidia. PitchBook data confirmed these figures, illustrating how swiftly Skild AI’s perceived market worth has multiplied in the span of just a few months. When approached for comment regarding the ongoing investment discussions, Skild AI did not provide an immediate response. Similarly, representatives from both SoftBank and Nvidia declined to issue any official remarks about the report, maintaining their characteristic discretion on negotiations of such financial magnitude.
Unlike many startups in the robotics sector that channel substantial resources into developing highly specialized or proprietary hardware, Skild AI has strategically chosen a markedly different approach. The company focuses exclusively on building what it calls a robot‑agnostic foundation model—an adaptable software architecture capable of integrating with a wide variety of robotic systems regardless of design, manufacturer, or intended function. This model is envisioned as an underlying neural framework that can be calibrated for diverse operational contexts, ranging from household assistance to industrial automation, thereby making robotics development more flexible, scalable, and cost‑effective.
In July, Skild AI publicly revealed its general‑purpose robotics intelligence framework known as Skild Brain, offering a glimpse into its practical capabilities through demonstration videos. These showcased robots not merely performing simple mechanized motions but also executing tasks that require adaptive coordination and environmental awareness—such as picking up dishes with precision and navigating staircases both upwards and downwards. Such demonstrations were intended to highlight the versatility and learning potential of the company’s software architecture. In parallel, Skild AI announced strategic alliances with LG CNS and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, partnerships designed to strengthen and expand its growing technological ecosystem and ensure interoperability across computational and industrial domains.
Investor enthusiasm for AI‑powered robotics has been climbing steadily in recent months, as capital increasingly gravitates toward companies promising to create foundational “brains” for machines capable of reasoning about their surroundings. For instance, another emerging firm in the same domain, Physical Intelligence, is reported to have recently closed a funding round of roughly six hundred million dollars at a valuation of 5.6 billion dollars led by Capital G. However, according to one investor who had assessed but ultimately opted against participating in that round, the company’s core model remains in its early stages of technical refinement, underscoring the experimental nature of the field as a whole.
Momentum is also evident in the humanoid robotics space, where valuations have soared to remarkable levels. In September, Figure—a company working to develop full‑scale humanoid robots—successfully raised over one billion dollars, achieving an extraordinary forty‑nine‑digit valuation in the process. Likewise, another player in the segment, 1X, was reported by The Information to be pursuing up to one billion dollars in new financing at a prospective valuation of ten billion dollars only a few months earlier.
Taken together, these developments paint a picture of a dynamic and rapidly maturing robotics investment landscape, where software‑centric intelligence models such as those of Skild AI are increasingly seen as pivotal to the creation of adaptable, general‑purpose robotic systems destined to transform industries worldwide.
Sourse: https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/08/softbank-and-nvidia-reportedly-in-talks-to-fund-skildai-at-14b-nearly-tripling-its-value/
