# Robotics and embodied AI industry investment

> Live situation record from CLSTR: https://clstr.news/situations/robotics-and-embodied-ai-industry-investment
> Updated: 2026-09-09T07:48:34.000Z. Sources: 14. Developments: 3.

The robotics and embodied AI sector is seeing significant investment and infrastructure development. SoftBank Group is negotiating to acquire a majority stake in 1X Technologies, an OpenAI-backed developer of humanoid robots, in a deal that could value the startup at approximately $6 billion. This move follows SoftBank’s acquisition of ABB’s robotics unit and reflects a strategy to integrate artificial intelligence with physical robotics.

Concurrently, the data infrastructure required for these technologies is expanding. XDOF, a San Mateo-based startup founded in late 2024 by researchers from UC Berkeley, is in advanced discussions for a Series B funding round. The round, which may be led by 8VC, is expected to value the company at approximately $1.2 billion.

XDOF provides data pipelines, teleoperation tools, and annotation systems to help AI labs and robotics firms collect high-quality motion data for physical tasks. Following a $70 million Series A round in June 2026, the company has seen rapid growth, with annualized revenue reportedly approaching $50 million. The company has also contributed to the field through open-source initiatives, such as the ABC-130K dataset for bimanual robot manipulations. The rising valuation of such firms reflects an industry-wide trend where high-quality movement data has become a critical bottleneck for humanoid robot development, driving massive investments in data infrastructure and large-scale GPU scaling partnerships.

## Timeline

### 2026-09-09: XDOF seeks $1.2 billion valuation in Series B funding round

Robotics startup XDOF is seeking Series B funding at a projected $1.2 billion valuation to address the growing demand for high-quality motion data used in training humanoid robots.

2 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/xdof-seeks-12-billion-valuation-in-series-b-funding-round

### 2026-09-04: XDOF in talks for $1.2 billion valuation in Series B funding round

Robotics data startup XDOF is in talks for a Series B funding round at a $1.2 billion valuation, driven by rapid revenue growth and high demand for embodied AI training data.

4 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/xdof-in-talks-for-12-billion-valuation-in-series-b-funding-round

### 2026-08-27: SoftBank negotiates $6 billion majority stake in 1X Technologies

SoftBank is negotiating to acquire a majority stake in OpenAI-backed humanoid robot maker 1X Technologies in a deal valued at roughly $6 billion.

10 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/softbank-negotiates-majority-stake-in-robotics-startup-1x-technologies

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Cite as: Robotics and embodied AI industry investment. CLSTR, https://clstr.news/situations/robotics-and-embodied-ai-industry-investment