The funding highlights how service robotics is shifting from niche deployments to scaled commercial use across global markets
Updated
April 24, 2026 2:26 PM
An autonomous service robot with a cat face design standing inside a McDonalds restaurant. PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK
Pudu Robotics, a Shenzhen-based startup building robots for commercial environments, has raised nearly US$150 million in a new funding round, pushing its valuation past US$1.5 billion. The raise brings the company’s total funding to more than US$300 million.
The company focuses on service robotics across sectors such as delivery, cleaning and industrial logistics. Its systems are used in places like retail stores, warehouses and public venues where routine tasks can be automated. Over time, Pudu has expanded from single-purpose machines to a broader portfolio that combines hardware with AI-driven navigation and coordination.
The funding is expected to support several areas of growth. These include further development of its AI systems, expansion of its product range and continued international rollout. The company also plans to invest in manufacturing and supply chain capacity, suggesting a focus on scaling production alongside demand.
Pudu’s recent growth provides some context for the raise. The company reported a doubling of revenue by 2025, with its cleaning robots now accounting for the majority of its business. Its industrial delivery robots have also seen early traction, with thousands of units deployed within a year of launch.
Its products are already in use with large global retailers including Carrefour, Walmart and EDEKA. Industry estimates place Pudu among the largest players in commercial service robotics, with a leading share of the global market.
Technically, the company develops much of its core stack in-house, including navigation systems, multi-robot coordination software and motion control. This allows its robots to operate in complex real-world environments where multiple machines need to move and work together.
“This financial milestone is a powerful confirmation of Pudu’s industry leadership, the strength of its products and technology, its global brand, and its commercial infrastructure. With the support of our strategic investors and industry partners, Pudu will continue to push the boundaries of embedded AI and business service robotics. We remain committed to innovating with an inventor’s spirit and leveraging a global vision to accelerate robot adoption, thereby elevating the industry to new heights in the global value chain”. said Felix Zhang, founder and CEO of Pudu Robotics.
The funding round points to a broader shift in the sector. As service robotics moves from pilot deployments to wider adoption, companies are increasingly being judged on their ability to scale production and operate across markets, not just on the novelty of their technology.
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The focus is no longer just AI-generated worlds, but how those worlds become structured digital products
Updated
March 17, 2026 1:01 AM
The inside of a pair of HTC VR goggles. PHOTO: UNSPLASH
As AI tools improve, creating 3D content is becoming faster and easier. However, building that content into interactive experiences still requires time, structure and technical work. That difference between generation and execution is where HTC VIVERSE and World Labs are focusing their new collaboration.
HTC VIVERSE is a 3D content platform developed by HTC. It provides creators with tools to build, refine and publish interactive virtual environments. Meanwhile, World Labs is an AI startup founded by researcher Fei-Fei Li and a team of machine learning specialists. The company recently introduced Marble, a tool that generates full 3D environments from simple text, image or video prompts.
While Marble can quickly create a digital world, that world on its own is not yet a finished experience. It still needs structure, navigation and interaction. This is where VIVERSE fits in. By combining Marble’s world generation with VIVERSE’s building tools, creators can move from an AI-generated scene to a usable, interactive product.
In practice, the workflow works in two steps. First, Marble produces the base 3D environment. Then, creators bring that environment into VIVERSE, where they add game mechanics, scenes and interactive elements. In this model, AI handles the early visual creation, while the human creator defines how users explore and interact with the world.
To demonstrate this process, the companies developed three example projects. Whiskerhill turns a Marble-generated world into a simple quest-based experience. Whiskerport connects multiple AI-generated scenes into a multi-level environment that users navigate through portals. Clockwork Conspiracy, built by VIVERSE, uses Marble’s generation system to create a more structured, multi-scene game. These projects are not just demos. They serve as proof that AI-generated worlds can evolve beyond static visuals and become interactive environments.
This matters because generative AI is often judged by how quickly it produces content. However, speed alone does not create usable products. Digital experiences still require sequencing, design decisions and user interaction. As a result, the real challenge is not generation, but integration — connecting AI output to tools that make it functional.
Seen in this context, the collaboration is less about a single product and more about workflow. VIVERSE provides a system that allows AI-generated environments to be edited and structured. World Labs provides the engine that creates those environments in the first place. Together, they are testing whether AI can fit directly into a full production pipeline rather than remain a standalone tool.
Ultimately, the collaboration reflects a broader change in creative technology. AI is no longer only producing isolated assets. It is beginning to plug into the larger process of building complete experiences. The key question is no longer how quickly a world can be generated, but how easily that world can be turned into something people can actually use and explore.