RoboticsContext
Robotics Context

Robotics market overview

The market around the companies on this site, in public figures. Every figure has its source and the date it was true as of; company statements, guidance and press reports are labeled.

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On this page

Snapshot

  • Industrial robots in operation

    Detail
    A record 5 million industrial robots in operation worldwide at the end of 2025 (5,079,078), up 9%[1]
    As of
    Sep 2026

  • Installed in 2025

    Detail
    603,307 industrial robots installed in 2025, up 11%[1]
    As of
    Sep 2026

  • Venture funding (PitchBook, incl. defense)

    Detail
    Q2 2026: a record $18.6B across 450 deals; the largest round was $5B for Anduril, a defense company[2]
    As of
    Sep 2026

  • Venture funding (Crunchbase, excl. defense)

    Detail
    Q3 2026: $9.9B of venture funding to robotics startups worldwide, more than double the $4.3B of Q3 2025[3]
    As of
    Oct 2026

  • Humanoids shipped in 2025

    Detail
    About 15,000 humanoid robots shipped worldwide in 2025; Unitree and AGIBOT each shipped more than 5,000 (Omdia figures, via AP)[4]
    As of
    Jul 2026

  • U.S. rule on foreign mobile robots

    Detail
    Jul 28, 2026: the FCC added foreign-produced "advanced robotic devices" (and power inverters) to its Covered List, implementing National Security Determinations from an executive-branch interagency body. This blocks new models: they can no longer receive FCC equipment authorization[5]
    As of
    Jul 2026

Installed base

Industrial robots, from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).

  • In operation

    Detail
    A record 5 million industrial robots in operation worldwide at the end of 2025 (5,079,078), up 9%[1]
    As of
    Sep 2026

  • Installations

    Detail
    603,307 industrial robots installed in 2025, up 11%[1]
    As of
    Sep 2026

  • China

    Detail
    China: 354,000 installed in 2025, up 20%; 59% of installations worldwide[6]
    As of
    Sep 2026

  • United States vs Japan

    Detail
    The United States passed Japan in 2025 to become the second-largest market for industrial robots, after China[6]
    As of
    Sep 2026

  • United States

    Detail
    United States: almost 38,500 installed in 2025, up 12% (final figures; the June preliminary count was 38,000, up 11%)[6]
    As of
    Sep 2026

  • Forecast

    Detail
    IFR forecast: installations up 9% to 655,000 in 2026, and 806,000 in 2029[6]
    As of
    Sep 2026

  • Where demand comes from

    Detail
    Demand has shifted from the automotive industry to general industry; general-industry demand has quintupled over a decade[7]
    As of
    Sep 2026

  • Collaborative robots

    Detail
    Collaborative robots: about 11% of industrial robot installations[7]
    As of
    Sep 2026

Funding

Two trackers, two definitions: PitchBook counts defense companies in robotics and physical AI, Crunchbase leaves them out. Their figures are shown apart and should not be added together or compared directly.

PitchBook (robotics and physical AI, including defense)

  • Q1 2026

    Detail
    Q1 2026: a record $16.3B across 492 deals[8]
    As of
    Apr 2026

  • Q2 2026

    Detail
    Q2 2026: a record $18.6B across 450 deals; the largest round was $5B for Anduril, a defense company[2]
    As of
    Sep 2026

  • Logistics and warehousing

    Detail
    Q2 2026: logistics and warehousing funding fell 68% from Q1[2]
    As of
    Sep 2026

Crunchbase (robotics startups, excluding defense)

  • Q3 2026

    Detail
    Q3 2026: $9.9B of venture funding to robotics startups worldwide, more than double the $4.3B of Q3 2025[3]
    As of
    Oct 2026

  • Year to date

    Detail
    Q1–Q3 2026: up about 185% year over year; China $13.2B and the U.S. $12.1B so far this year[3]
    As of
    Oct 2026

  • New unicorns

    Detail
    45 robotics companies joined the unicorn board in 2026, of about 75 robotics unicorns that raised in the past three years[3]
    As of
    Oct 2026

Valuation markers

  • Skild AI

    Detail
    Over $14B (Series C, Jan 2026)[9]
    As of
    Jan 2026

  • Physical Intelligence

    Detail
    About $11B (Series C, May 2026; reported, not announced by Physical Intelligence)[10]
    As of
    Sep 2026

  • Figure

    Detail
    $39B post-money (Series C, Sep 2025)[11]
    As of
    Sep 2025

  • Figure (reported talks)

    Detail
    Press report: Nvidia has discussed investing another $1B at a pre-money valuation of about $38B (The Information, via eWeek); neither company has confirmed it[12]
    As of
    Oct 2026

  • Standard Bots

    Detail
    $1B (Series C, Jun 2026)[13]
    As of
    Jun 2026

  • RobCo

    Detail
    Passed $1B (Oct 2026), after new investment and an employee share sale[14]
    As of
    Oct 2026

Market layers

The companies in this wiki by layer, linked to their pages; others the overview names are listed as text.

Humanoids

  • Shipments, 2025

    Detail
    About 15,000 humanoid robots shipped worldwide in 2025; Unitree and AGIBOT each shipped more than 5,000 (Omdia figures, via AP)[4]
    As of
    Jul 2026

  • China's share

    Detail
    China's estimated share of the humanoid market: roughly 85% (AP; the estimate's source isn't named)[4]
    As of
    Jul 2026

  • Deployment records

    Detail
    An independent review found Figure and Agility "hold the strongest verified deployment records – not Tesla"[15]
    As of
    Jul 2026

By company

  • Unitree

    Detail
    More than 5,500 humanoids shipped in 2025, 32.4% of the global humanoid market (its IPO prospectus, via CNBC)[16]Self-reported
    As of
    Mar 2026

  • Unitree: uses

    Detail
    Industry-application humanoid revenue came mainly from enterprise reception and tour-guide use (roughly 50% to 70%), intelligent manufacturing and intelligent inspection (prospectus, via CNBC)[16]Self-reported
    As of
    Mar 2026

  • Tesla Optimus

    Detail
    Optimus production began in Fremont on its high-volume lines; "the first production-quality bots that we have manufactured" (Q3 2026 Update). Tesla has not published a production count[17]Self-reported
    As of
    Oct 2026

  • Tesla Optimus: guidance

    Detail
    CEO on the Q3 2026 call: "early production" on the Fremont line; deliveries to companies outside Tesla expected around the end of 2027; "at least a year, maybe a little longer" to reach 20,000 units a week; "the vast majority of a million-unit per line production line landed in Fremont" (third-party transcript)[18]Self-reported
    As of
    Oct 2026

  • Figure

    Detail
    More than 350 Figure 03 robots delivered; production raised from one Figure 03 a day to one an hour in under 120 days (a demonstrated rate, not continuous output)[19]Self-reported
    As of
    Apr 2026

  • Figure: BMW

    Detail
    BMW: Figure 03 starts at its Spartanburg plant on sequencing work in logistics (Jun 2026)[20]
    As of
    Jun 2026

  • Figure: Catalyst Brands

    Detail
    Catalyst Brands: agreement for Figure's robots at its Reno, Nevada distribution logistics center (May 2026)[21]
    As of
    May 2026

  • Agility: Digit 5

    Detail
    Digit 5 unveiled: works close to people without the safety barriers traditional automation needs; repeated lifts up to 50 lb, 40% more payload than Digit 4; early access expected in H1 2027, general availability by the end of 2027, then the EU and UK (company guidance)[22]
    As of
    Sep 2026

  • Agility: sites

    Detail
    Digit 4 deployed or committed for deployment at nine customer facilities (Form S-4)[23]Self-reported
    As of
    Sep 2026

  • Agility: orders

    Detail
    More than $300M of committed multi-year orders for Digit 5 as of May 2026, subject to contractual milestones (Form S-4)[23]Self-reported
    As of
    Sep 2026

Robot foundation models

  • Physical Intelligence

    Detail
    About $11B (Series C, May 2026; reported, not announced by Physical Intelligence)[10]
    As of
    Sep 2026

  • Skild AI

    Detail
    Over $14B (Series C, Jan 2026)[9]
    As of
    Jan 2026

  • Skild AI: Fetch

    Detail
    Skild AI acquired Zebra Technologies' Robotics Automation business (formerly Fetch Robotics) in Apr 2026[24]
    As of
    Apr 2026

  • NVIDIA GR00T N1.7

    Detail
    GR00T N1.7 available in early access "with commercial licensing" (NVIDIA, GTC, Mar 2026)[25]
    As of
    Mar 2026

  • NVIDIA GR00T N2

    Detail
    GR00T N2, a next-generation robot foundation model, previewed at GTC; slated to be available by the end of 2026 (company guidance)[25]
    As of
    Mar 2026

  • NVIDIA Cosmos 3

    Detail
    Cosmos 3, a world foundation model, announced as "expected to come soon"[26]
    As of
    Mar 2026

  • Google DeepMind

    Detail
    Gemini Robotics 2 (Jul 30, 2026): a family of three models; the vision-language-action and on-device models are available to early-access partners, the reasoning model (ER 2) in Google AI Studio[27]
    As of
    Jul 2026

  • Unitree

    Detail
    IPO proceeds: 2B yuan for a robot-model R&D project, 1.1B yuan for robot R&D, 445M yuan for new-generation product development and 624M yuan for a manufacturing base (via Yicai)[28]Self-reported
    As of
    Aug 2026

Robot-use agents

  • The thesis

    Detail
    In an essay dated Sep 7, 2026, MIT associate professor Phillip Isola argued that large language models can use a robot as a tool ("robot-use agents"), the way they already use computers. He writes that LLM-controlled robots are still far less performant than dedicated solutions and may be less reliable than tried-and-true robotic systems, which matters especially for high-stakes and safety-critical uses[29]
    As of
    Sep 2026

  • YC Decoded episode

    Detail
    Y Combinator's Decoded episode "Robot-Use Agents: Why General-Purpose Models May Win in Robotics" (Sep 26, 2026) discusses the thesis with the founders of Waddle Labs and Robocurve[30]
    As of
    Sep 2026

  • Waddle Labs

    Detail
    Y Combinator-backed; launched an early-access API on Jul 27, 2026, through which language-model agents write control programs for robots. The founders claim a working policy in 20 minutes, shown on tasks of the company's choosing[31]Self-reported
    As of
    Jul 2026

  • Robocurve

    Detail
    A public benefit corporation that evaluates, as an independent third party, how well frontier AI models control real robots; raised a $10M seed led by Initialized Capital (Sep 2026)[32]Self-reported
    As of
    Sep 2026

Policy and trade

FCC Covered List (Jul 2026)

  • The rule

    Detail
    Jul 28, 2026: the FCC added foreign-produced "advanced robotic devices" (and power inverters) to its Covered List, implementing National Security Determinations from an executive-branch interagency body. This blocks new models: they can no longer receive FCC equipment authorization[5]
    As of
    Jul 2026

  • What it covers

    Detail
    Covers mobile devices, including autonomous mobile robots, humanoids and quadrupeds, that move on the ground, operate at a distance from a human operator, weigh over 4.4 lb and have sensors, network connectivity and controlling software. Excludes fixed, stationary industrial or medical robots such as articulated arms, delta, gantry and SCARA robots[5]
    As of
    Jul 2026

  • Existing models

    Detail
    Models the FCC authorized before the change can still be imported, sold and used; federal government purchases and use are not affected[33]
    As of
    Jul 2026

  • Updates

    Detail
    Robotic devices authorized before Jul 28, 2026 may keep receiving software and firmware updates at least until Jan 1, 2029 (waiver DA 26-789)[34]
    As of
    Jul 2026

  • New models

    Detail
    A new foreign-produced model is exempt only with a Conditional Approval from the Department of War[5]
    As of
    Jul 2026

Congress

  • GUARD Act

    Detail
    H.R. 9129, GUARD Act of 2026 (Jun 3, 2026): would put certain humanoid and quadruped robotics equipment on the FCC Covered List[35]
    As of
    Jun 2026

  • Commission on Robotics

    Detail
    S. 4686 and H.R. 7334, National Commission on Robotics Act: would establish a commission on robotics[36]
    As of
    Jun 2026

  • American Security Robotics Act

    Detail
    S. 4235, American Security Robotics Act of 2026 (Sens. Cotton and Schumer, Mar 26, 2026): would bar executive agencies from buying or operating certain unmanned ground vehicle systems[37]
    As of
    Mar 2026

China

  • Response

    Detail
    China's Foreign Ministry said China would take "all measures necessary" to defend the rights and interests of Chinese businesses[4]
    As of
    Jul 2026

Public listings

  • Unitree: IPO

    Detail
    Unitree priced its Shanghai STAR Market IPO at 150.8 yuan a share, valuing it at about 61B yuan ($9B), seeking to raise 6.1B yuan[38]
    As of
    Aug 2026

  • Unitree: debut

    Detail
    Listed Aug 19, 2026: shares rose 460% on the first day, after jumping nearly 630% intraday[39]
    As of
    Aug 2026

  • Unitree: 2025 results

    Detail
    2025 revenue more than quadrupled to 1.7B yuan; humanoid robots brought in 867.8M yuan; U.S. sales were 13.3% of revenue (prospectus, via CNBC)[38]Self-reported
    As of
    Aug 2026

  • Other Chinese applications

    Detail
    Leju Robot and Deep Robotics had their listing applications accepted in May 2026[40]
    As of
    Jul 2026

  • Agility Robotics: merger

    Detail
    Merger with Churchill Capital Corp XI announced Jun 24, 2026, at a $2.5B pre-money equity value, with more than $620M of expected gross proceeds including about $200M of new PIPE financing[41]
    As of
    Jun 2026

  • Agility Robotics: listing

    Detail
    Merger completed; shares began trading on Nasdaq as AGLT on Nov 5, 2026. The business combination and related financings raised approximately $465 million in gross capital before transaction expenses[42]
    As of
    Nov 2026

Business models

Robots as a service

  • Formic

    Detail
    Robots as a service: a flat monthly fee covering the robot, integration, monitoring and support; billing starts only after agreed performance targets are met[43]
    As of
    Sep 2026

  • RobCo

    Detail
    Robots as a service: direct deployments sold only as a service, at roughly one worker-shift a month, "a couple thousand" to $10,000 a month (CEO statement)[44]Self-reported
    As of
    Feb 2026

  • Tutor Intelligence

    Detail
    Robots as a service: $14 to $18 per robot-hour for palletizing, with an 80-hour monthly minimum[45]
    As of
    Nov 2026

Sold outright

  • Standard Bots

    Detail
    Sold outright: arms from $29,500 to $49,500[46]
    As of
    Nov 2026

  • Hirebotics

    Detail
    Sold outright: complete cells from $100,000 to $140,000, with financing and rent-to-own[47]
    As of
    Nov 2026

  • Universal Robots

    Detail
    Sold outright: arms, not finished cells, sold mainly through distributors and OEMs[48]
    As of
    Dec 2025

Humanoids

  • Agility Robotics

    Detail
    Humanoid, bought: about $200,000 per robot up front, about $20,000 to deliver and deploy and about $36,000 a year in software and service, about $400,000 over five years; rented: $8,500 a month plus a deployment fee of about $25,000 (Form S-4, illustrative)[23]Self-reported
    As of
    Sep 2026

  • Figure

    Detail
    Humanoid, at home: Figure's CEO sketched a lease "like a car lease", roughly $400 to $600 a month (interview, May 2026)[49]Self-reported
    As of
    May 2026

Dated milestones to watch

Company guidance and regulatory dates, as their sources state them; not a forecast by this page.

  • By the end of 2026

    Milestone
    NVIDIA GR00T N2 available (company guidance)[25]
    As of
    Mar 2026

  • H1 2027

    Milestone
    Agility Digit 5 early access begins (company guidance); general availability by the end of 2027[22]
    As of
    Sep 2026

  • Mar 4, 2027

    Milestone
    RobCo Alfie commercial launch, at RobCoN in Munich (company guidance)[14]
    As of
    Oct 2026

  • Around the end of 2027

    Milestone
    First Optimus deliveries to companies outside Tesla (CEO, Q3 2026 call)[18]Self-reported
    As of
    Oct 2026

  • Expected 2027, no date (reported by Forbes, Jun 2026)

    Milestone
    Apptronik unveils Apollo 3, its next commercial humanoid. Forbes reported the unveil as "next year" after interviewing the CEO (Jun 2026); Apptronik has given no date, and its Feb 2026 release had said its new robot would debut in 2026[50]
    As of
    Jun 2026

  • 2026–27

    Milestone
    Production humanoids on Formic's roadmap (company roadmap)[43]Self-reported
    As of
    Sep 2026

  • Jan 1, 2029

    Milestone
    The FCC waiver for software and firmware updates to robotic devices authorized before Jul 28, 2026 runs at least to this date (regulatory)[34]
    As of
    Jul 2026

Recent moves

  • Nov 5, 2026

    Move
    Agility Robotics began trading on Nasdaq as AGLT after completing its merger[42]

  • Nov 2, 2026

    Move
    Tutor Intelligence raised a $75M Series B led by Andreessen Horowitz[51]

  • Oct 27, 2026

    Move
    Crunchbase: $9.9B of robotics startup funding in Q3[3]

  • Oct 22, 2026

    Move
    Formic raised a $50M Series B led by Mercato Partners[52]

  • Oct 21, 2026

    Move
    Tesla: Optimus production began on high-volume lines in Fremont[17]

  • Sep 24, 2026

    Move
    IFR World Robotics 2026: 5 million industrial robots in operation[6]

  • Sep 15, 2026

    Move
    Agility unveiled Digit 5[22]

  • Aug 19, 2026

    Move
    Unitree listed in Shanghai[39]

  • Jul 28, 2026

    Move
    The FCC added foreign-produced advanced robotic devices to its Covered List, blocking new models[5]

  • Jun 24, 2026

    Move
    Agility Robotics announced a merger with Churchill Capital Corp XI at a $2.5B pre-money equity value[41]

  • May 2026

    Move
    Physical Intelligence Series C at about $11B (reported; corporate filings of May 21)[10]

  • Apr 29, 2026

    Move
    Figure: more than 350 Figure 03 delivered; one built per hour[19]

  • Mar 20, 2026

    Move
    Unitree filed for a Shanghai STAR Market IPO[16]

  • Mar 16, 2026

    Move
    NVIDIA GTC: GR00T N2 previewed, GR00T N1.7 in early access with commercial licensing, Cosmos 3 announced[25]

  • Jan 14, 2026

    Move
    Skild AI raised $1.4B at a valuation over $14B[9]

Sources

  1. IFR: World Robotics 2026, Industrial Robots executive summary (Sep 2026)
  2. PitchBook: Q2 2026 Robotics & Physical AI Report
  3. Crunchbase News: Q3 robotics startup funding jumps 185% (Oct 2026)
  4. AP (via CBS News): U.S. moves against foreign humanoid robots (Jul 2026)
  5. FCC: Public Notice DA 26-786, Covered List update (Jul 2026)
  6. IFR: Five million robots now operate in factories globally (Sep 2026)
  7. IFR: World Robotics 2026 press-conference presentation (Sep 2026)
  8. PitchBook: Q1 2026 Robotics & Physical AI VC Trends
  9. Skild AI: Series C (Jan 2026)
  10. Revenue Memo: Physical Intelligence funding (reported, Sep 2026)
  11. Figure: Series C at $39B post-money (Sep 2025)
  12. eWeek: Nvidia reportedly weighs $1B more in Figure (Oct 2026)
  13. SiliconANGLE: Standard Bots raises $200M at $1B valuation (Jun 2026)
  14. RobCo: valuation passes $1 billion (Oct 2026)
  15. Technology.org: Humanoid robots in 2026, what is actually deployed (Jul 2026)
  16. CNBC: Unitree plans Shanghai IPO (Mar 2026)
  17. Tesla: Q3 2026 Update (8-K exhibit 99.1, Oct 2026)
  18. Tesla Q3 2026 earnings call, third-party transcript (Singju Post, Oct 2026)
  19. Figure: Ramping Figure 03 production (Apr 2026)
  20. BMW Group: Figure 03 starts at Plant Spartanburg (Jun 2026)
  21. Figure: signs agreement with Catalyst Brands (May 2026)
  22. Agility Robotics (PR Newswire): unveils Digit 5 (Sep 2026)
  23. Churchill Capital Corp XI / Agility Robotics: Form S-4 (Sep 2026)
  24. DC Velocity: Zebra sells off its Fetch AMR division (Apr 2026)
  25. NVIDIA: GTC 2026 physical AI announcements (Mar 2026)
  26. NVIDIA: open model families expand (Mar 2026)
  27. Google DeepMind: Gemini Robotics 2 (Jul 2026)
  28. Yicai: Unitree prices Shanghai IPO (Aug 2026)
  29. Phillip Isola: Robot-use agents (essay, Sep 2026)
  30. Y Combinator: Decoded, Robot-Use Agents (video, Sep 2026)
  31. Runtime Wire: Waddle Labs launches AI agents that write control code for robots (Jul 2026)
  32. Robocurve: raises $10M to independently evaluate frontier AI in the physical world (Sep 2026)
  33. FCC: fact sheet on advanced robotic devices and power inverters (Jul 2026)
  34. FCC: Order DA 26-789, software and firmware update waiver (Jul 2026)
  35. H.R. 9129, GUARD Act of 2026 (govinfo)
  36. S. 4686, National Commission on Robotics Act (govinfo)
  37. S. 4235, American Security Robotics Act of 2026 (govinfo)
  38. CNBC: Unitree prices IPO at $9 billion valuation (Aug 2026)
  39. CNBC: Unitree jumps in Shanghai debut (Aug 2026)
  40. Xinhua: robotics IPO applications in Shanghai (Jul 2026)
  41. Agility Robotics: to go public through merger with Churchill Capital Corp XI (Jun 2026)
  42. Agility Robotics: begins trading on Nasdaq as AGLT (Nov 2026)
  43. Formic homepage
  44. The Robot Report: the RaaS blueprint, with RobCo's Roman Hölzl (Feb 2026)
  45. Tutor Intelligence: pricing (Nov 2026)
  46. Standard Bots homepage (Nov 2026)
  47. Hirebotics: pricing (Nov 2026)
  48. Teradyne 10-K (FY2025)
  49. Sourcery: interview with Figure CEO Brett Adcock (May 2026)
  50. Forbes: Apptronik announces Robot Park, teases new robot (Jun 2026)
  51. TNW: Tutor Intelligence raises $75M from a16z (Nov 2026)
  52. BusinessWire: Formic raises $50 million (Oct 2026)