Genesis AI Bets on Non-Humanoid Robots to Expand in Finance Sector
Genesis AI Unveils Eno: A New Direction in Robotics for the Finance Industry
By Leo Marchandon and Gianluca Lo Nostro
Introduction of Eno: Breaking Away from Humanoid Designs
PARIS, June 16 (Reuters) - Genesis AI, the French robotics startup backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, unveiled its first general-purpose robot on Tuesday, as AI capabilities expand beyond chatbots and into physical machines.
The robot, named Eno, breaks from the humanoid design usually favoured by leading manufacturers, featuring a wheeled base rather than legs, a foldable tower and hands that the company says match the form of a human hand.
Market Impact and Industry Concerns
Growth of the Global Robotics Market
Driven by advances in AI, the global robotics market is expanding rapidly, sparking debate over its impact on employment, though technical challenges, mostly about processing power and battery life, remain.
Public Sentiment on AI and Employment
A Reuters/Ipsos poll this month showed 53% of Americans were concerned that AI would put them or someone in their household out of work.
Genesis AI’s Funding and Strategic Vision
Record-Breaking Investment
Founded in early 2025, Genesis AI has raised $105 million (€90.6 million), one of France's largest and matching the record seed round of Mistral AI - Europe's leading AI company. Genesis AI's valuation was not immediately available.
Technical Approach: Extending Human Capabilities
Eno runs on Genesis' own AI model, and is not built to look like humans, but to extend human capabilities, according to the company.
Deployment Plans and Industry Applications
Production Timeline and Target Sectors
Genesis AI plans to begin production and targeted customer deployments by the end of 2026, starting with logistics and manufacturing customers, followed by hotels, hospitals, and consumers.
Expert Insights on Economic Impact
In a statement, Schmidt said the robot's breakthrough will not replace human expertise, but rather "amplify it" to unlock what he called "one of the largest economic opportunities of the AI era."
Design Choices and Future Outlook
Scaling Production and Customer Needs
Genesis AI has built dozens of units so far and plans to scale up production in the second half of 2026, Vivian Sun, Vice President of Commercial and Strategy at Genesis AI, told Reuters.
Why a Wheeled Base?
Sun said the wheeled base was chosen because most industrial customers operate on flat floors, adding that legs would only make sense for use cases like climbing stairs.
Human-Inspired Capabilities, Not Form
"We are mimicking humans in capabilities, not in form. Humans can go up and down, and so does the robot, but through this foldable design."
(1 euro = $1.1584)
(Reporting by Leo Marchandon and Gianluca Lo Nostro; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
