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Foundation Robotics

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Foundation Future Industries, Inc., which trades as Foundation, is a San Francisco humanoid robotics startup building the Phantom, a bipedal robot aimed at both industrial work and defense. It holds $24 million in Pentagon research contracts, has tested units in Ukraine, and has taken on Eric Trump as chief strategy adviser.

Founded
2024
Headquarters
San FranciscoUnited States
Products
2
Our coverage
17stories
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What it builds

Foundation Future Industries, Inc. — which markets itself as Foundation and appears in some databases as Foundation Robotics Labs — develops a bipedal humanoid called Phantom from a San Francisco site the company calls Robo Factory 1. It emerged publicly in April 2025 with the Phantom MK-1, a roughly 5-foot-9, 80-kilogram machine that uses in-house cycloidal actuators instead of the harmonic drives common in rival designs and relies on cameras rather than lidar for perception. Reported figures put its payload at about 20 kilograms and its top walking speed at 1.7 metres per second. The unit price has been reported at approximately 150,000 dollars, with a lease option near 100,000 dollars per year.

Technical approach

The software bet rests on decades of AI research into deep variational Bayes filters, brought in by Patrick van der Smagt, sitting under an LLM task-reasoning layer the company describes as a physics-action model. Hardware detail has come mostly through Foundation's own video series: a chest-mounted computer with the head serving as a sensor hub; a whole-body controller shown in a blind balance test across marbles and packing peanuts; and a tendon-driven hand its engineers defended against Figure's criticism. A factory tour showed largely manual assembly of a robot made of roughly 500 unique parts.

Defense and commercial work

Foundation is unusual among US humanoid developers in saying openly that its robots may eventually be armed. CEO Sankaet Pathak said arming them was "on the table" in October 2025 and went further in a Newsweek profile a month later; co-founder Mike LeBlanc, a former Marine, has fronted the military pitch.

A figure of 24 million dollars in Pentagon contracts has circulated widely, including from a Fox Business host during an on-air appearance by Eric Trump. Asked by WIRED for specifics, Foundation shared five: two inherited from Boardwalk Robotics, which it acquired months after being founded in 2024, and three that came through IHMC, the Florida nonprofit Boardwalk had worked with. WIRED reported that the company did not appear to have independently secured new government funding, though it does hold defense contracts worth millions. Foundation also says it has tested Phantom MK-1 with Ukrainian forces, and Pathak has described sending two units in February 2026 for logistics and reconnaissance as one half of an even defense-commercial split. That account rests on the company's own statements; no independent confirmation of what the robots have done there has emerged.

Eric Trump, son of the sitting president, became chief strategy adviser after investing in the firm, an arrangement Senator Elizabeth Warren has publicly criticised. On the commercial side, Foundation lists pilots in consumer goods, beverage and glass manufacturing, and in July 2026 announced a partnership with AMD alongside a claim of 100 million dollars in contracted annual recurring revenue that has not been independently verified.

Money and scrutiny

Disclosed funding begins with an 11 million dollar pre-seed round led by Tribe Capital, whose chief executive Arjun Sethi is named as a co-founder. In May 2025 the company was reported to be seeking 100 million dollars at a 1 billion dollar valuation; by January 2026, reporting put the target at up to 500 million dollars at a valuation above 3 billion dollars. Pathak's previous company, the fintech Synapse, filed for bankruptcy in 2024, and that record has shadowed Foundation's fundraising. Production targets — 40 units in 2025, 10,000 in 2026 and 50,000 by the end of 2027 — remain far ahead of any output that has been publicly observed.

Robots & products

A selection of the company's announced products, not a complete catalogue.

Phantom MK-2

Announced

Bipedal humanoid

Second-generation Phantom described as consolidating electronics to reduce short-circuit risk and adding ruggedisation over the MK-1.

Phantom MK-1

Pilot deployment

Bipedal humanoid

Camera-based bipedal humanoid built for industrial work and defense tasks such as logistics, reconnaissance and inspection, using in-house cycloidal actuators.

Height
175 cm· 5 ft 9 in
Weight
80 kg· 176 lb
Payload
20 kg· 44 lb
Top speed
1.7 m/s· 3.8 mph
Price
$150K

Funding

$11M raised
RoundDateAmountValuationLead investors
Pre-seed—$11M—Tribe Capital

Timeline

  1. AMD partnership announced; $100M contracted ARR claimed

    Phantom MK-1 ran live demonstrations at AMD Advancing AI 2026 in San Francisco, where Foundation also claimed $100 million in contracted annual recurring revenue, a figure not independently verified.

    pulse2.com ↗

  2. Eric Trump named chief strategy adviser

    A company spokesperson said Trump had been an investor before stepping into the adviser role; the date he joined was not stated.

    cnbc.com ↗

  3. $24M in Pentagon research contracts reported

    Contracts span the Army, Navy and Air Force and cover testing of humanoids for tasks including breaching enemy positions.

    semafor.com ↗

  4. Two Phantom MK-1 units sent to Ukraine

    Reported as a February 2026 deployment for logistics and reconnaissance testing; exact day not established and Ukraine's defence ministry has not commented.

    Foundation Robotics CEO Details Ukraine Pilot, "Super-Heavy" Phantom 2, and Rejection of Companion Bots
  5. Reported

    Reported seeking up to $500M at $3B-plus valuation

    Newcomer reported the talks, citing two sources; no closed round has been confirmed.

    newcomer.co ↗

  6. Target raised to 50,000 robots by end of 2027

    Foundation outlined 40 units in 2025, 10,000 in 2026 and 50,000 by the end of 2027, a scale far beyond its observed manual assembly output.

    interestingengineering.com ↗

  7. Pathak sets 10,000-unit production target for 2026

    The CEO laid out a progression from unarmed ground drones to weapon-carrying humanoids alongside the production goal.

    Foundation CEO Details Path to Armed Robots, Aims for 10,000-Unit Production in 2026
  8. Reported

    Reported to be seeking $100M at $1B valuation

    The Information reported the raise, with a Saudi-linked family office said to be leading; no close was ever confirmed by the company.

    Foundation Robotics Reportedly Aiming for $100M Raise at $1B Valuation

  9. Phantom humanoid unveiled

    Foundation emerged publicly with the Phantom, built around in-house cycloidal actuators and a hybrid AI stack rather than pure imitation learning.

    Foundation Emerges With 'Phantom' Humanoid, Betting on Novel Actuators and Hybrid AI

  10. Foundation founded in San Francisco

    Sankaet Pathak founded the company with Tribe Capital's Arjun Sethi and former Marine Mike LeBlanc after Pathak's fintech Synapse filed for bankruptcy.

    cnbc.com ↗

Latest on Foundation Robotics

'Don't Send a Marine, Send a Robot': Foundation Co-Founder Details Military Pitch for Humanoids

In a recent TV appearance, Foundation co-founder and former Marine Mike LeBlanc openly discussed the company's focus on defense applications for its humanoid robots, framing them as autonomous ground drones designed to replace soldiers in dangerous roles. The explicit military focus comes as the company, led by controversial ex-Synapse CEO Sankaet Pathak, continues its ambitious push into the competitive robotics field.

Foundation Robotics Reportedly Aiming for $100M Raise at $1B Valuation

Humanoid robotics startup Foundation, led by ex-Synapse CEO Sankaet Pathak, is reportedly seeking $100 million in funding at a $1 billion valuation. This ambitious target comes shortly after the company unveiled its 'Phantom' robot and against the backdrop of Pathak's previous company's recent bankruptcy.

Humanoid Hype Check: Experts Urge Caution on Near-Term Robot Revolution

Analyses from MIT Technology Review and a Fortune op-ed highlight significant near-term challenges for widespread humanoid robot deployment. Experts caution against hype, emphasizing technical, economic, and, as recent CEO discussions on social media reveal, domestic adoption hurdles related to safety and public perception, while underscoring the role of specialized robotics.

Foundation Emerges With 'Phantom' Humanoid, Betting on Novel Actuators and Hybrid AI

Foundation Robotics, led by ex-Synapse CEO Sankaet Pathak, emerges with its 'Phantom' humanoid robot targeting industrial automation. Founded in May 2023, the company emphasizes proprietary high-efficiency actuators and a hybrid AI approach combining state-based models and imitation learning. Targeting initial deliveries in mid-2025, Foundation aims to differentiate itself from competitors like Figure and Tesla through hardware performance and faster AI training.

Sources