A former AI lead on Tesla’s Optimus programme has co-founded Intelligent Machines, a San Francisco startup developing robots for skilled industrial work. The company is using reinforcement learning to teach robots complex tasks, according to The Information, and is raising a seed round that could reach about $100 million.
Watch Desk analysis
What happened
The startup is developing non-humanoid robots for work in industries including manufacturing and aerospace, where tasks are often carried out by highly skilled workers. The Information says Intelligent Machines has hired several former members of Tesla’s Optimus team and is currently focused on robot software, though its leaders have discussed designing hardware too.
The report, citing two people with direct knowledge, identifies Ashish Kumar as a co-founder and former AI lead for Tesla’s humanoid robotics programme. It says the company is in the process of raising a seed round that could end up around $100 million. That is a reported fundraising target, not a completed round.
Why it matters
This is a move from humanoid robotics towards machines built for particular industrial tasks, led by someone with experience on a high-profile robotics programme. Reinforcement learning is central to the reported approach: the company uses rewards and penalties to train robots to perform complex work. The potential funding would also make this an unusually ambitious early-stage bet, if the round reaches the reported scale.
Our read
The interesting question is not whether every factory needs a robot shaped like a person. It is whether a team can make robots useful for difficult work without taking the scenic route through humanoid form. This is an early company, not evidence of robots already doing these jobs at scale, but the combination of robotics talent, a focused industrial remit and a reported large fundraise is worth watching.
What to watch
- Whether Intelligent Machines closes a seed round, and at what size.
- Which industrial tasks its robots are built to handle first.
- Whether the company develops its own hardware or concentrates on software for other robots.
Discussion spark: For industrial automation, should startups build robots around specific tasks, or pursue general-purpose humanoids?
Sources and evidence
- Former Tesla Optimus Lead is Launching an Industrial Robot Startup (7 October 2026, 14:01 UTC)
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