Leading humanoid startup isn't interested in the 'bidding wars' for top AI and robotics talent - Business Insider
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Key takeaways
- Humanoid robotics is accelerating both in capital and in product deployment.
- On July 22, 2026 the UK‑based Humanoid closed a $152 million Series A round at a $1.35 billion valuation, bringing its total funding to $270 million and positioning it as Europe’s first pure‑play humanoid robotics unicorn; the firm plans to roll out a beta version of its next‑generation platform in Q4 2026 and begin mass production of wheel‑based humanoids.
- The same week, South Korean startup Holiday Robotics announced a $105 million Series A to develop its FRIDAY wheeled humanoid, aimed at industrial repetitive‑task work and built for reliability alongside humans.
- In the United States, Weave Robotics is moving from concept to market with its Isaac 1 consumer humanoid, a wheeled home robot priced at $7,999 (or $449/month) that will launch in the fall; the design focuses on approachable aesthetics and household chores.
- Generative Bionics made its U.S. debut at the AMD Advancing AI 2026 event, unveiling Gene.01, a six‑month‑old humanoid that incorporates full‑body tactile sensing and physics‑native AI to better interpret and respond to the physical world.
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The latest news and analysis on robotics, from humanoid AI to real-world automation.
The latest news and analysis on robotics, from humanoid AI to real-world automation.
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Humanoid startup Agility Robotics doesn't want 'coin-operated employees'
By Lloyd Lee Agility is one of the few robotics startups in the US with humanoids performing sustained work beyond the confines of a research lab.
The company first deployed Digit, a bipedal robot, for commercial operations in 2024. Agility has since deployed the bot across manufacturing, distribution, and logistics operations, accumulating more than 65,000 hours of work.
Digit's primary tasks for now have been picking up bins and moving them to another location, Hurst said.
"We're doing this in a serious way. The we-are-going-to-build-a-sustainable-growing-company way," Hurst said. "It's not so much atell-a-grand-story-and-hope-we-can-fill-in-the-gaps way." "One of the things that's been weird recently has been kind of the bidding wars for some of this really rare talent," Hurst said. "We're not going to do that because we don't want coin-operated employees."
On Thursday, Agility opened a 60,000-square-foot research and training facility in Fremont, where the company expects to house nearly 200 existing and new employees across hardware engineering, AI and machine learning, and customer operations support.
The site will serve as a "robot school" to teach Agility's Digit humanoid new skills, Hurst said.
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