OpenAI backs robots, Amazon and Palantir's defense deal, Saudi Arabia's $100 billion bet: This week's AI launches

Each week, Quartz rounds up product launches, updates, and funding news from artificial intelligence-focused startups and companies.

Here’s what’s going on this week in the ever-evolving AI industry.

Physical Intelligence, a startup developing foundation models and learning algorithms for robots, raised a $400 million funding round this week that counted OpenAI and Amazon (AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos as investors, CNBC reported. The funding round valued the startup at $2.4 billion.

Thrive Capital, Sequoia Capital, Khosla Ventures, and Lux Capital are listed as the startup’s other investors. Its seed round in March was reportedly $70 million and valued the startup at $400 million.

For the past eight months, Physical Intelligence says it has developed a general-purpose robot foundation model called pi-zero that is “a first step toward our long-term goal of developing artificial physical intelligence, so that users can simply ask robots to perform any task they want, just like they can ask large language models (LLMs) and chatbot assistants.”

AI startup Thesys announced a $4 million seed round this week that was led by Together Fund. The startup developed a “visual collaboration tool” that helps companies “ideate, visualize and ship” user interfaces for AI agents.

“The way we engage with technology is changing faster than ever. Static interfaces simply don’t meet the demands of today’s AI-capabilities,” Parikshit Deshmukh, co-founder of Thesys, said in a statement. “At Thesys, we’re building tools that make it possible for businesses to adapt and thrive in this new era. This evolution is not just about functionality, it’s about unlocking the full potential of AI-driven interactions and delivering unparalleled user experiences.”

Saudi Arabia is reportedly planning an AI hub worth as much as $100 billion. The state-backed project, called “Project Transcendence,” involves investments in data centers, startups, and other AI infrastructure, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. The effort reportedly includes recruiting AI talent, and encouraging tech companies to develop and put resources in Saudi Arabia.

Audio and video collaboration platform Pibox announced a $1.2 million financing this week to launch its tools for creatives. The startup listed Presto Ventures, Globalive Capital, and Startup Wise Guys as investors.

Pibox also received funding from Google for Startups (GOOGL), which will help the startup add AI-powered features to its tools.

“We are determined to build the best place for content collaboration and management for teams working at a high professional level with audio and video,” Pibox co-founder and chief executive Ivan Talaichuk, said in a statement. “I set out to solve my own problem because I hate switching between multiple apps to work on my creative content. It was scattering my mind, so I decided to connect everything in one place.”