Good morning, robotics enthusiasts. Meta just dropped a next-gen “world model” — an AI built to transform how robots and self-driving cars perceive, predict, and act in the real world.

World models are hot right now, as researchers move beyond language-based training to give machines true physical understanding. Could this be the breakthrough that unlocks superintelligent robotics?

In today’s robotics rundown:

• Meta unveils ‘world model’ for robotics

• Skild hits $4.5B with Nvidia & Samsung’s backing

• Gecko Robotics tops $1.25B for inspection bots

• China’s RoboBrain 2.0 for smarter robots

• Quick hits on other robotics news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

META

🤖 Meta unveils ‘world model’ for robotics

Image source: Meta

The Rundown: Meta just pulled back the curtain on V-JEPA 2 — a 1.2-billion-parameter “world model” designed to give advanced robots and self-driving cars a kind of common sense about the physical world.

The details:

• Unlike language models, V-JEPA 2, pretrained on over a million hours of unlabeled video and images, creates internal simulations of the physical world.

• The simulations allow the AI to reason about motion, interactions, and outcomes in real time — and predict results with human-like logic.

• In a second training phase, V-JEPA 2 was fine-tuned on 62 hours of robot interaction data, enabling it to make action-conditioned predictions.

• The whole system gives robots the ability to plan and execute tasks with unfamiliar objects in new environments — requiring no prior training or demos.

Why it matters: Robots powered by V-JEPA 2 can be dropped into unfamiliar situations and still plan, adapt, and execute tasks without retraining for each scenario. Building world models is touted as the next big thing in AI, with AI researcher Fei-Fei Lee’s World Labs, Odyssey, and Google’s DeepMind also being in the race.

SKILD AI

🤑 Skild hits $4.5B with Nvidia & Samsung’s backing

Image source: Skild AI

The Rundown: Robotics software startup Skild AI just nabbed $35M from Samsung and Nvidia — with $10M from Samsung and $25M from Nvidia — as part of a larger Series B round valuing the company at a staggering $4.5B.

The details:

• The investment has been led by SoftBank’s $100M commitment, with South Korean powerhouses like LG, Hanwha, and Mirae Asset also joining the fray.

• Skild AI’s flagship product is “Skild Brain” — a foundational model designed to give robots capabilities in manipulation, navigation, and locomotion.

• The company’s ultimate vision is to create robotic intelligence that can handle everything from complex industrial tasks to household chores.

• Skild’s platform stands out for its horizontal approach, enabling robots to perform a vast range of tasks across industries without extensive retraining.

Why it matters: As the global race for consumer and industrial robotics heats up —with Tesla, Amazon, Figure, and Google all doubling down — Skild’s breakthrough in scalable, adaptable robotics is positioning it at the forefront of a market poised to transform everything from healthcare and construction to logistics and beyond.

GECKO ROBOTICS

🦄 Gecko Robotics tops $1.25B for inspection bots

Image source: Gecko Robotics

The Rundown: Gecko Robotics, a Pittsburgh-based pioneer in AI-driven robotics for infrastructure maintenance, officially joined the unicorn club with a $125M Series D round of funding — taking its valuation to $1.25B.

The details:

• Gecko’s Cantilever operating system allows robots to autonomously inspect and analyze power plants, oil refineries, and military vessels.

• The company has a $100M deal with NAES to modernize U.S. power plants and a partnership with L3Harris to roll out XR solutions for aircraft maintenance.

• It claims its robots slash labor costs by 85% and shrink U.S. Navy ship inspection timelines by months — all while improving safety.

• The fresh capital infusion will turbocharge Gecko’s expansion into defense, energy, and manufacturing industries.

Why it matters: Founded in a college dorm by Jake Loosararian, Gecko Robotics now deploys a fleet of agile robots — climbing, flying, and swimming — to capture precision data from warships to power plants. Alongside rivals like Intellibot, Gecko is one to watch in a fast-growing sector where robotics is transforming safety and efficiency.

CHINESE ROBOTICS

🧠 China’s RoboBrain 2.0 for smarter robots

Image source: BAAI/X

The Rundown: The Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence (BAAI), a nonprofit research lab, unveiled RoboBrain 2.0, a cutting-edge open-source AI model designed to act as the “brain” for humanoids and advanced robots.

The details:

• RoboBrain 2.0 is engineered to serve as the cognitive core for humanoids, offering major improvements in spatial intelligence and task planning.

• Compared to its predecessor, released three months earlier, this new model delivers a 17% increase in processing speed and a 74% boost in accuracy.

• BAAI is already collaborating with some 20 Chinese robotics firms to accelerate innovation and adoption of advanced robotics across varied industries.

• RoboBrain 2.0 is part of BAAI’s broader Wujie model series, which also includes cloud-based platform RoboOS 2.0 and multimodel system Emu3.

Why it matters: BAAI director Wang Zhongyuan described RoboBrain 2.0 as the world’s most powerful open-source AI model for robotics, with execs from Baidu, Huawei, and Tencent attending the launch. Despite being placed on the U.S. Entity List, BAAI is forging ahead with new partnerships to boost talent and tech exchange.

QUICK HITS

📰 Everything else in robotics today

Boston Dynamics’ robots took the stage on America’s Got Talent in a synchronized dance routine set to Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” — but to mixed reviews.

Tesla is suing a former engineer, alleging he stole trade secrets from its Optimus humanoid project to launch a startup specializing in robotic hands.

Beijing is set to open the world's first “4S store” dedicated to the sales and service of humanoids, more than a month ahead of the 2025 World Robot Conference.

Shenzhen-based Lumos Robotics posted a video of its LUS 2 humanoid going from lying flat on the floor to standing up in just one second.

Goldman Sachs says widespread adoption of autonomous vehicles could eventually reduce the number of road accidents, but might not lead to cheaper auto insurance.

Scale CEO Alexandr Wang said on a podcast that humans could one day be able “to downlink” their consciousness into a humanoid and experience the world via its body.

Drones and robot dogs marched alongside military vehicles in a parade in Washington, D.C., for the 250^th anniversary of the U.S. Army.

A research team has developed SMURF — Soft Miniaturized Underground Robotic Finder — with a smell sensor to search for humans in rescue missions.

Sojo Industries, a leader in advanced robotics and mobile manufacturing, announced this week that it has raised $40M in new funding.

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Rowan, Jennifer, and Joey—The Rundown’s editorial team