🦾 HardTech Reads: The AI & Robotics Revolution vol.38

Welcome to the exploration of the world where founders embark on bold quests and solve non-obvious problems🤘

Jul 06, 2025

🚀 HARDTECH NEWS: Robotics & AI Innovations

Genesis AI Emerges From Stealth with $105M to Build Universal Robotics Foundation Model

It’s not too late to start bilding robotics foundational models! We have a new one, Genesis AI, that just launched with $105M in funding (RFM) and a horizontal platform for general-purpose physical AI. Co-led by Eclipse and Khosla Ventures, the company is bridging synthetic simulation and real-world robot data collection at scale — creating what they call a “data engine” for physical intelligence. Their full-stack approach includes in-house physics simulations and high-fidelity generative modeling.
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China hosts first fully autonomous AI robot football match

The era of human footballers may not be over just yet, but a recent match in China offered a glimpse into a possible future. In Beijing, four teams of humanoid robots faced off in three-a-side football matches, each powered by artificial intelligence. Despite concerns that modern football is becoming overly mechanical in its pursuit of tactical perfection, these robot matches made it clear that AI is not ready to replace stars. The robots struggled to kick the ball and often lost their balance, with some even needing to be carried off the pitch after falling and failing to get back up. I still prefer to watch real people playing sport :)

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Baidu’s Apollo Go Prepares Robotaxi Expansion Into Europe

Baidu’s robotaxi service, Apollo Go, is preparing for a European launch as Chinese autonomous vehicle tech eyes global scale. The move could set up regulatory showdowns across borders, and signal an inflection point in global AV competition.
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Palmer Luckey & Tech Billionaires Launch Erebor, a New Crypto Bank for Tech

Following SVB’s collapse, Palmer Luckey and others launched Erebor — a digital-only bank focused on startups in AI, crypto, defense, and deep-tech. Designed to serve underbanked high-tech innovators, the bank is applying for a national charter and positioning itself as a financial backbone for the future of innovation.
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Amazon Surpasses 1M Robots With DeepFleet AI Coordination

Amazon has now deployed over 1 million robots in more than 300 facilities worldwide. A new generative AI model called DeepFleet acts as an intelligent traffic controller, optimizing robot coordination and cutting travel time by 10%. Nearly 75% of deliveries now involve robotics — a tipping point in logistics automation.
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Blackdot’s Aero: AI-Powered Tattoo Robot Hits NYC

Blackdot’s new robotic tattoo artist, Aero, is now operating at Bang Bang Studio in NYC. Using computer vision and skin-depth sensors, Aero translates tattoo art into ultra-precise micro-dot patterns. The system aims to reduce pain and boost consistency — ushering in a new era of AI-assisted body art.
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Moog Speeds Up Hypersonic & Orbital Launch With New Avionics Hub

Moog is establishing a dedicated manufacturing hub in New York to support hypersonic and orbital launch systems. The move strengthens U.S.-based aerospace infrastructure and accelerates production timelines for next-gen defense and space platforms.
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Finland Expands Intelligence With ICEYE’s SAR Satellites

Finland is scaling up its surveillance capabilities through ICEYE’s Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite network. This upgrade enhances real-time Earth observation and national security, reinforcing Europe’s edge in space-based intelligence.
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🔬 STARTUPS TO KNOW: Game-Changers in HardTech & AI

Tacta Systems — $64M Series A led by America’s Frontier Fund and SBVA. Building “dextrous intelligence” for robotic systems with nervous-system-like awareness.

ForSight Robotics — $125M Series B led by Eclipse to automate optical surgeries (retina, cataract, glaucoma). FDA discussions underway.

Klutch AI — $8M seed led by Bain Capital and Bling Capital for AI agents automating construction workflows like permits, vendor scoring, and jobsite docs.

PhysicsX — $135M raised (Siemens, Atomico, Temasek) for AI-first design tools in defense and aerospace. Near $1B valuation.

Pelico — $40M raised (General Catalyst, 83North, Serena) for AI-powered supply chain orchestration.

Snowcap Compute — $23M seed led by Playground Global to build superconducting compute platforms.

Voliro — $7M Series A extension for aerial inspection robotics; backed by noa and Cherry Ventures.

BackOps AI — $6M seed led by Construct Capital for AI-powered supply chain operations.

Lux Aeterna — $4M pre-seed for reusable satellite platforms. Investors: Space Capital, Dynamo, Mission One, and more.

Nascent Materials — $2.3M seed (SOSV, NJ Evergreen, UM6P) to innovate battery materials.

AssetCool — €11.5M Series A to expand robotic grid upgrades. Investors: EIP, Extantia, Taronga, Northern Gritstone.

👨‍🔧HARDTECH STARTUPS ARE HIRING

Looking for a 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐉𝐨𝐛? Check 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐉𝐨𝐛𝐬 𝐁𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝!⚒️🏭🧑‍🏭🤖

Figure, SpaceX, Cobot, ABB, Blue Origin, NASA, Boston Dynamics, Tesla, Rivian, Bright Machines, Archer , GITAI , Relativity Space are hiring!

Check it here 👇

HardTech Jobs Board

📚FAVORITE RESOURCES

Betaworks AI Camp: Interfaces — Focused on early-stage startups building voice-native tools and ambient interfaces. Apply here.
UpScaleX S’25 — $500K funding, growth mentorship, and top-tier VC intros for AI & commerce founders.
SETI’s Cosmic Chronicles Prize — $1,000 award for original writing on life, intelligence, and consciousness in the universe.

👉 Submit here

🎤EVENTS

If you’re not heading to Reindustrialize in July, you’ve got an amazing second‑best option: the 𝐀𝐈𝐨𝐓 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡, taking place July 15–16. We’re doing it fully virtual via Zoom + 𝑴𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆 (𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒐𝒐𝒍 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕?!)🤩

AIoT is one of my favourite topics, and it’s currently reshaping industries at lightning speed!💪 With 50+ world-class speakers from industry and academia, this event isn’t just another webinar. It’s a digital-first, future-forward summit exploring how AI and IoT is transforming industries like #manufacturing, #healthcare, #infrastructure, and more.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗰𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴-𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀, 𝘃𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗻𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲…🤔

👉 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭: https://bit.ly/460rm1R

🏭 July 16–17: Reindustrialize (Detroit, MI) — ping me if you are coming!

🇨🇭 August 2–16 — Heading to Zurich, Switzerland for a bit. Ping me if you are there!
🤖 Aug. 18–22: Intl. Conference on Automation Science & Engineering (Anaheim, CA)
🏗 Oct. 6–10: Intl. Conference on Advanced Manufacturing (Las Vegas, NV)
🤝 Oct. 15–16: RoboBusiness (Santa Clara, CA)
🌍 Oct. 19–25: IEEE IROS (Hangzhou, China)
🔧 Oct. 29: Hard Tech Summit(Ontario, Canada)
🇸🇬 Oct. 27–29: ROSCon (Singapore)
🦿 Dec. 11–12: Humanoid Summit (Silicon Valley, TBA)