A California startup selling robot operating software has secured a term sheet that values the company at $10 billion, five times its worth barely a year ago. FieldAI plans to raise $700 million in the round, according to a person with knowledge of the deal, though the funding has not yet closed.
The leap mirrors a broader gap developing between American and European robotics investment strategies. While US investors pour capital into companies building the digital infrastructure for machines, European backers have concentrated overwhelmingly on the hardware itself.
Founded in 2023, FieldAI makes no physical robots. Instead, the company markets what it calls a universal general-purpose brain designed to power humanoids, robot dogs, drones and industrial rovers. Construction firms, data centre operators and defence contractors number among its customers. Revenue and customer contracts have climbed past $135 million across more than 30 clients, up at least $35 million since June.
That valuation trajectory dwarfs anything comparable across the Atlantic. NEURA Robotics raised up to $1.4 billion in June at approximately $7 billion, backed by heavyweight investors including Tether, Nvidia, Amazon, Bosch and the European Investment Bank. The German firm builds machines and targets manufacturing, aiming for millions of units by 2030.
Genesis AI, the closest European counterpart to FieldAI, splits roughly 60 staff between Paris, London and the Bay Area. Reports in July suggested it was raising $500 million for robot brain technology at around $3 billion. A report, not a signed term sheet. The valuation gap between the two sits at threefold.
London-based Humanoid followed the hardware path too, pulling in $152 million in July at $1.35 billion with Bosch contracted to build its wheeled robots.
The American brain layer has become the magnet for capital. Physical Intelligence holds a valuation near $11 billion and Skild AI sits at $14 billion, meaning just three companies carry roughly $35 billion combined. Munich’s Agile Robots, which builds both software and machines, entered early talks for $800 million.
FieldAI builds nothing physical, positioning every European robot manufacturer as a prospective customer. Europe’s Machinery Regulation takes effect on 20 January 2027, covering machinery with self-evolving behaviour, precisely what this software enables. No model of this kind has yet been assessed under those European rules because they do not activate until 2027. The pattern echoes cloud computing and semiconductors: machines assembled in Europe, software valued elsewhere.
