Sanctuary Media Roundup
The last few months have been some of our busiest yet for news. In the space of just six weeks, we made five key announcements. We wanted to share a roundup of some notable highlights from the media coverage we received.
The last few months have been some of our busiest yet for news. In the space of just six weeks, we made five key announcements. We wanted to share a roundup of some notable highlights from the media coverage we received.
March 18th: NVIDIA Announces Project GR00T Foundation Model for Humanoid Robots and Major Isaac Robotics Platform Update
Our partner NVIDIA announced Project GR00T, a general-purpose foundation model for humanoid robots, designed to further its work driving breakthroughs in robotics and embodied AI.
Our CEO Geordie Rose was quoted in the press release from NVIDIA:
“Embodied AI will not only help address some of humanity’s biggest challenges, but also create innovations which are currently beyond our reach or imagination. Technology this important shouldn’t be built in silos, which is why we prioritize long-term partners like NVIDIA.”
In an article titled ‘Nvidia enlists humanoid robotics’ biggest names for new AI platform, GR00T’, Brian Heater from TechCrunch includes Geordie’s quote in his piece, along with a notable quote from NVIDIA CEO, Jensen Huang:
“Building foundation models for general humanoid robots is one of the most exciting problems to solve in AI today.”
We couldn’t agree more.
March 27th: Accenture Invests in Sanctuary AI to Bring AI-Powered, Humanoid Robotics to Work Alongside Humans
Accenture, one of the largest global professional services firms, also announced a strategic investment in Sanctuary AI. Accenture serves more than three quarters of the Fortune Global 100 and Fortune Global 500. The investment gives us access to Accenture’s enterprise clients and domain expertise, while allowing Accenture to anticipate and manage the changes that will be brought about by AI-powered, general purpose humanoid robots.
The announcement was listed as one of The Robot Report’s top 10 stories in March, with journalist Mike Oitzman noting our hands-first approach in his story:
“While other humanoid developers have focused much of their energy on bipedal locomotion, Sanctuary has taken a different approach with its Phoenix™ robot. It believes object manipulation is the key to humanoid success in the market and has put most of its energy into hand-eye coordination and AI intelligence to support dexterous manipulation.”
April 11th: Sanctuary AI Expands General Purpose Robot Footprint in Automotive Manufacturing Industry
Our first announcement of April was a multifaceted partnership with Magna, one of the largest automotive suppliers in the world and a significant buyer of industrial robots. The collaboration features:
Sanctuary AI’s development of general purpose AI robots for deployment in Magna’s manufacturing operations
A multi-disciplinary assessment of improving cost and scalability of robots using Magna’s automotive product portfolio, engineering and manufacturing capabilities
A strategic equity investment by Magna
The news was covered by Thomas Seal, Bloomberg’s Vancouver Bureau Chief, who referenced the adaptability of our general-purpose robot, Phoenix, and its ‘dextrous human-like hands’. We also saw some great pieces in TechCrunch, The Robot Report, and The Logic. Hebert Ong also did an excellent video breakdown of the announcement on his YouTube channel, Brighter With Herbert.
April 25th: Sanctuary AI Unveils the Next Generation of AI Robotics
Two weeks after announcing Magna, we unveiled the seventh generation of Phoenix, less than 12 months after we announced gen six. The latest generation and its AI control system, Carbon™, draw even closer to that of a person, with wide ranging improvements to both the hardware and AI software. The time it takes for new tasks to be automated has gone from weeks to less than 24 hours, marking a major milestone in task automation speed and autonomous system capability.
On the day of our launch, Geordie caught up with BNN Bloomberg, who called us an ‘AI success story’. The interview discussed the Magna announcement, as well as the gen seven launch, which Geordie described as a ‘critical step on the path to artificial general intelligence’.
We also saw another brilliant breakdown of the announcement in Brighter With Herbert, as well as a piece in TechCrunch which neatly summarized the improvements in its headline: “Sanctuary’s new humanoid robot learns faster and costs less”. Some other standout pieces were a fantastic Diginomica article following an interview that Geordie had with the author, Chris Middleton, a piece in Betakit describing gen seven as ‘Sanctuary AI’s most human-like robot yet’, and a great piece in Interesting Engineering.
May 1st: Sanctuary AI Announces Microsoft Collaboration to Accelerate AI Development for General Purpose Robots
Rounding out an amazing six weeks was the announcement of our collaboration with Microsoft. We are working with them to bolster AI research and development, while also leveraging Microsoft’s Azure cloud resources for our AI workloads.
Building on the work we’ve already undertaken with Microsoft to help unlock remote physical work, this collaboration will play a role in our progress towards "Large Behavior Models" (LBMs) that ground AI in the physical world by enabling systems to understand and learn from real world experience.
The collaboration, described as ‘stunning’ by Brighter With Herbert, also featured in TechCrunch, where author Brian Heater said:
“Such a partnership deepens Microsoft’s commitment to AI development and delivers a partner who can design hardware to those specifications. Sanctuary has been operating in the space for some time now, and recently scored a pilot partnership with Magna, which will bring the latest version of Phoenix to car plants.”
There were also a few fantastic pieces in Canadian Manufacturing, Interesting Engineering, and Yahoo Finance.
This year, we have also conducted several engaging media interviews, leading to an interesting piece in the Institution of Mechanical Engineers which discusses how our technology could be a solution to some of the biggest challenges facing humanity. We also held an interview with a journalist from The Economist, which led to a series of articles relating to the work we are doing and the emerging category of humanoid general purpose robots. You can read the three pieces here:
To quote the final article:
“Robots that can act and perform tasks like humans may not be the stuff of science fiction for long.”
We’d like to thank every journalist and reader for their interest, as well as everyone who has supported us on this journey.
Sanctuary is on a mission to create the world’s first human-like intelligence in general-purpose robots that will help us work more safely, efficiently, and sustainably, helping to address the labor challenges facing many organizations today. Sanctuary's growing list of customers and investors represents a wide variety of industries across Canada, the U.S., and other countries around the world.
Join us and work with world leaders in the fields of artificial intelligence, cognition, and robotics—all working together toward a common goal. Visit our careers page to learn more.
Company and Team Update
In the last year, there has been a significant positive shift in interest in humanoids and Sanctuary AI. This interest has come from multiple sources, including big tech companies, large VC funds, and numerous corporate venture groups.
These past six months have been super exciting, and interest in the work we are doing has never been so intense. The light bulb has started to turn on, as many are realizing the true size of the business opportunity. I’m sharing the email I sent to all Sanctuary AI employees with an update on the company and team.
Hi all,
In the last year, there has been a significant positive shift in interest in humanoids and Sanctuary AI. This interest has come from multiple sources, including big tech companies, large VC funds, and numerous corporate venture groups. Over the past few months, we have made significant progress on the technology we are building. We have increased the number of Phoenix systems available for data collection and training. We have seen improvements in Carbon, our unique AI control system that powers Phoenix robots to complete work tasks autonomously, just like a person. We have also continued to make progress with the industry-leading, highly-dexterous human-like hands that enable Carbon-powered Phoenix robots to interact with objects in the real world with precision, strength, and accuracy. Finally, we have garnered significant public attention through the work we are doing with industry leaders such as Accenture and NVIDIA, among others.
This momentum is palpable, and you will see a series of additional exciting public updates and announcements from us over the coming weeks and months. None of this would be possible without each and every one of you. I am incredibly proud of each of your significant contributions and am even more in awe of the progress we have made as a collective team. We are fortunate to have world class talent on our team. We are forging a path that will unleash great things into the world and have a profound and positive impact on people’s lives, not just here in Canada but around the world.
In conjunction with these exciting updates and following the successful accomplishment of several key technology and investment milestones, I also wanted to share an update about the evolution of the leadership team. As with every company, leadership teams change and adapt as the organization transitions from one state to another.
I am delighted to announce that my fellow co-founder Olivia will now formally and officially take on the CTO title. Olivia will continue to be supported by our VP of Hardware Engineering and Manufacturing, Vince, Director of Software Engineering, Nick, our Head of Machine Learning, Mani, and the rest of the leadership team. And I will remain personally involved in achieving our upcoming technology and product development milestones. At the very start of this journey, envisioning the endless possibilities for humanity, I knew that we could change the world. The work we are doing is very personal to me. My passion for what lies ahead is both strong and convicted.
Thank you again for your dedication, hard work, and belief in Sanctuary, our mission, and the positive impact we are having on the world. Your talent and commitment drive our company forward. I look forward to what we will accomplish together in this next chapter of our collective story.
Sanctuary AI Named on TIME’s Best Inventions of 2023 List
VANCOUVER, BC, Tuesday, October 24, 2023 — Sanctuary AI, a company on a mission to create the world's-first human-like intelligence in general-purpose robots, has been named on the annual TIME’s Best Inventions list for 2023, which features 200 extraordinary innovations changing our lives.
VANCOUVER, BC, Tuesday, October 24, 2023 — Sanctuary AI, a company on a mission to create the world's-first human-like intelligence in general-purpose robots, has been named on the annual TIME’s Best Inventions list for 2023, which features 200 extraordinary innovations changing our lives. Sanctuary AI has been recognized for its sixth-generation general-purpose robots, Phoenix™, which features human-like intelligence and a humanoid physical form that is specifically designed to perform work tasks. Phoenix is the only humanoid general-purpose robot on the list, and the only Canadian company recognized in the highly competitive Robotics category. Sanctuary AI is helping address the growing labor shortage organizations are facing as birth rates decline and a significant portion of the population ages into retirement by offering an autonomous labor solution that can learn physical work tasks and operate in dynamic environments.
While many of the popular and successful robots of the last several years have been on the special-purpose end of the spectrum, what sets Sanctuary AI apart from others in the industry is its literal take on “general-purpose.” Powered by Carbon™, a pioneering and unique AI control system, Phoenix stands at 5’7”, weighs 155 lbs, and has industry-leading robotic hands with increased degrees of freedom (20 in total) that rival human hand dexterity and fine manipulation. Integrating modern AI technologies to translate natural language into action in the real world, Carbon features reasoning, task, and motion plans that are both explainable and auditable, providing Phoenix robots with the ability to think and then act to complete work tasks just like a person.
“We’re incredibly honored that our mission and work have been recognized by TIME. As birth rates continue to decline and nearly 10 million jobs remain unfilled in the United States alone, current labor challenges will only get worse as time goes on without a technology-based solution, like Phoenix,” said Geordie Rose, co-founder and CEO, Sanctuary AI. “With industry-leading robotic hands that feature human-like dexterity, fine manipulation, and a sense of touch, as our early adopting customers are already witnessing, Phoenix is uniquely suited to perform work. Sanctuary technology has already successfully deployed to commercial sites which proved our proprietary AI training process is effective and that the technology is commercially viable. We remain relentlessly committed and optimistic in our pursuit to creating a future where everyone can work more safely, efficiently, and sustainably.”
To compile their Best Inventions list, TIME solicits nominations from TIME’s editors and correspondents around the world, and through an online application process, paying special attention to growing fields—such as AI, green energy, and sustainability. They then evaluate each contender on a number of key factors, including originality, efficacy, ambition, and impact.
Of the new list, TIME’s editors write, “The result is a list of 200 groundbreaking inventions (and 50 special mention inventions)—including the world's most powerful supercomputer, a game-changing entertainment venue, and a new shape—that are changing how we live, work, play, and think about what’s possible.”
This achievement is the latest milestone in a momentous year for Sanctuary AI. At the beginning of the year, Sanctuary AI completed the first two customer deployments of its general-purpose robots. The company also unveiled its ecosystem of technology partners, including companies such as Apptronik, Cycorp, Exonetik, and HaptX. The growing Sanctuary AI team recently moved into a state-of-the-art office and lab space and the company was recognized by LinkedIn as a Top Startup of 2023.
To learn more about Sanctuary AI’s mission, Phoenix, and the team — which includes world-renowned experts in AI, machine learning, and robotics — visit the official company website: https://sanctuary.ai
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Founded in 2018, Sanctuary AI is a multi-award winning company based in Vancouver, Canada. Sanctuary AI is on a mission to create the world's first human-like intelligence in general-purpose robots that will help us work more safely, efficiently, and sustainably, helping to address the labor challenges facing many organizations today. Sanctuary AI's growing list of customers and investors represents a wide variety of industries across Canada, the US, and other countries around the world.
Members of the Sanctuary team founded D-Wave (a pioneer in the quantum computing industry), Kindred (first use of reinforcement learning in a production robot), and the Creative Destruction Lab (pioneered a revolutionary method for the commercialization of science for the betterment of humankind). With experience at startups and technology leaders such as Amazon, HP, IBM, Microsoft, and Samsung, the team has experience launching market-defining innovations rooted in previously unsolved and deep scientific problems.