Riding on Trump All in Robot Dongfeng? SoftBank and NVIDIA consider participating in Skild AI's new financing, with a valuation of possibly 14 billion

As the Trump administration is reported to be fully promoting the development of the robotics industry, a significant investment in the industry is on the horizon.

According to media reports on Monday, Eastern Time on the 8th, SoftBank Group and NVIDIA are in talks to invest in Skild AI, a developer of foundational models for robotics, participating in a financing round exceeding $1 billion, which could increase the valuation of the two-year-old startup Skild AI to $14 billion.

The aforementioned media cited sources and the investment term sheet they had seen, stating that if the deal is successful, Skild AI's valuation would be nearly double that of its Series B financing earlier this year. In the Series B financing reported in June, Skild AI raised $500 million, achieving a valuation of $4.7 billion, with SoftBank leading the investment, and NVIDIA, LG's venture capital arm, and Samsung also participating.

The report mentioned that an informed source stated that SoftBank was impressed by the technology demonstrated by Skild AI in pilot projects. The source noted that negotiations are still ongoing, and some details may change, with the deal expected to be completed before Christmas.

This transaction highlights the surge in investor interest in humanoid robotics companies, as advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) enable such robots to perform increasingly complex tasks. Last week's news indicated that following AI, robotics is becoming the next frontier for competition between the U.S. and other major economies. Wall Street Insight mentioned that reports indicated U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo is pushing for accelerated robotics development through meetings with industry CEOs, and the Trump administration is considering issuing an executive order on robotics next year.

SoftBank and NVIDIA Join Forces to Bet on Robotics

Neither Skild AI nor SoftBank immediately responded to media requests for comments on Monday, while NVIDIA declined to comment.

The robotics business is a key part of SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son's strategic planning. In October, SoftBank acquired the robotics business of Swiss engineering group ABB for $5.4 billion. Last week, Masayoshi Son elaborated on his view: it is not mechanical robots that will change the world, but "physical AI embodied in robots."

At the FII Priority Asia Forum last week, Masayoshi Son stated that selling NVIDIA shares made him "cry." He said, "I have great respect for Jensen (NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang) and great respect for NVIDIA; I didn't want to sell a single share. I just needed more funds to invest in OpenAI and other opportunities, so I cried while selling NVIDIA shares." SoftBank needs to pay $22.5 billion to increase its stake in OpenAI by the end of the year.

Masayoshi Son also refuted the theory of an AI investment bubble, believing that within the next decade, AI will be much smarter than humans, and "at least 10%" of global GDP will be replaced by superintelligent and physical AI robots.

The demand for investment in the robotics sector is surging. According to CB Insights data, financing in this field is expected to reach $2.3 billion by 2025, doubling last year's total. Goldman Sachs estimates that by 2035, the global humanoid robotics market could reach $38 billion

Skild AI: Developer of the Universal Brain for Robots

Skild AI was founded in 2023 by former Meta AI researchers and is supported by institutions such as Amazon and Lightspeed Venture Partners. The company aims to solve a key challenge: overcoming the barriers that hinder the widespread deployment of general-purpose machines in factories and homes by developing general software as the "brain" of robots.

The company focuses on developing AI models for various forms of robots rather than manufacturing any hardware. Skild AI claims that its technology teaches robots human-like perception and decision-making abilities using large amounts of data.

In July of this year, Skild AI released its first general AI model, stating that the system can adapt to a wide range of environments and tasks, from warehouse logistics to household chores. Last year, the company raised $300 million in Series A funding at a valuation of $1.5 billion, with investors including Bezos, SoftBank, and Khosla Ventures.

Currently, Skild AI is a partner of NVIDIA. NVIDIA introduced this year that Skild AI developed new technology for training the full-body robot foundational model Skild Brain using NVIDIA's accelerated computing infrastructure. This model can adapt to new robot forms and master new skills with little or no retraining. Through NVIDIA's infrastructure, Skild AI has developed robots costing only $4,000 to $15,000, while traditional robotic systems require investments of over $250,000.

However, experts warn that truly general robotic applications remain technically challenging and may take years to be widely adopted.

Trump Administration Promotes Robotics Industry

On the same day that reports emerged of Lutnik frequently meeting with CEOs in the robotics industry, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Commerce confirmed the commitment to the robotics industry, stating, "We are committed to robotics and advanced manufacturing because they are critical to bringing key production back to the United States."

Reports from last Wednesday also indicated that the U.S. Department of Transportation is preparing to announce the establishment of a robotics working group, possibly to be revealed by the end of the year. Interest in the robotics industry is also growing in Congress, with Republican lawmakers proposing an amendment to revise the National Defense Authorization Act to establish a National Robotics Committee. Although this amendment was not included in the final bill, other legislative efforts are underway.

This series of actions indicates that robotics is becoming an important frontier in the competition between the U.S. and other major economies. According to the International Federation of Robotics, as of 2023, China has 1.8 million industrial robots in factories, four times that of the U.S. China, Japan, Australia, Germany, and Singapore have all developed national robotics plans.

The robotics industry has been pushing for government officials and legislators to get involved, seeking U.S. government tax incentives or federal funding to help businesses integrate advanced automation technologies, strengthen supply chains, and achieve large-scale deployment.

Jeff Cardenas, CEO of the U.S. humanoid robot startup Apptronik, which is valued at $5 billion, stated, "We must get involved and consider developing a national robotics strategy to support this emerging industry in the U.S. to remain competitive." "The company's general-purpose robot Apollo is one of the first humanoid robots operating in automobile factories, completing a $350 million Series A financing round in February this year, with investment from Google.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated in a podcast released last Sunday that he believes AI-driven robots increasing productivity and output is the only way to address the over $38 trillion U.S. debt. He said, 'I think this is almost the only way to solve the U.S. debt crisis. In fact, the only thing that can solve the debt problem is AI and robots.'

Musk estimates that in about three years or less, the growth of goods and services will exceed the growth of the money supply, at which point AI and robotic technology will reshape the economy and monetary system