SoftBank Group is in talks to lead a $500 million funding round for Skild AI, a startup building robotics software, according to people familiar with the matter.
The startup would be valued at $4 billion, up from the $1.5 billion valuation it had last year after a star-studded deal including Jeff Bezos, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Coatue Management. The new round for Skild, founded in 2023, is a reflection of venture capital optimism about the intersection of artificial intelligence and robotics.
A representative for SoftBank declined to comment. A representative for Skild did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Financial Times earlier reported some details of the deal.
Skild is developing software that will allow robots to perform increasingly complicated tasks. The Pittsburgh-based company was founded by a pair of professors at Carnegie Mellon University, Deepak Pathak and Abhinav Gupta, who were also former AI researchers at Meta Platforms Inc.
The deal underscores SoftBank¡¯s enthusiasm for AI. The Japanese conglomerate plans to commit $19 billion to Stargate, U.S. President Donald Trump¡¯s AI infrastructure effort. In December, SoftBank¡¯s Masayoshi Son said during a visit to Trump¡¯s Mar-a-Lago that the firm planned to invest $100 billion in the U.S. over the next four years.
Other investors in Skild include Amazon.com Inc., Menlo Ventures, Felicis, CRV, General Catalyst and Sequoia Capital.
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