Foundation Robotics

FoundationAdvanced

A US humanoid-robot startup focused on defense and industrial use, maker of the Phantom robot.

This is a humanoid-robot company based in San Francisco, operating under the legal name Foundation Future Industries; its CEO, Sankaet Pathak, previously founded the fintech company Synapse. It was reportedly founded in 2023 and also has a site in Munich. Its product is the full-size humanoid robot Phantom, built with in-house actuators including a rolling-contact reducer; it relies only on cameras for perception, with no lidar, and runs an AI system called Cortex. Unlike most humanoid companies, it openly emphasizes defense as a focus, reportedly winning a Pentagon research contract worth about $24 million; its website showed demos in 2026 of load-carrying and mortar operation, while also piloting the robot in consumer-goods, beverage, and glass-manufacturing factories. The company has stated a goal of deploying tens of thousands of units in 2026, though that so far remains only a plan.

Also called: Foundation Robotics Labs, Foundation Future Industries
Related: Foundation Robotics Phantom · Humanoid Robot · Full-size Humanoid Robot · Vision-Only Approach · Robot-as-a-Service
Sources: Foundation 官网 (Chinese)
Foundation Emerges With Phantom Humanoid - Humanoids Daily
As of: 2026-07