Persona AI Partners with Maritime Certifier ABS to Standardize Humanoid Robot Inspections in Shipyards

A Step Toward Certified Humanoid Labor

HOUSTON, TX – Humanoid robotics startup Persona AI is taking another significant step into the shipbuilding industry, this time focusing on inspection and certification. The company announced it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), a leading global maritime classification organization. The partnership aims to develop standards and procedures for using humanoid robots to perform inspection tasks in shipyards.

This collaboration will see Persona AI's humanoid robots deployed in a series of joint development projects designed to collect data during ship construction. The ultimate goal is to establish new ABS standards for the quality and type of data required for digital and remote survey techniques, effectively creating a certification pathway for robotic data in the maritime industry.

From Welding to Watching

The move adds a critical layer to Persona AI's existing efforts in shipbuilding. The company, which recently secured $27 million in pre-seed funding to accelerate its industrial rollout, has already established a high-profile partnership with shipbuilding giant HD Hyundai to develop humanoids for complex welding tasks. While the HD Hyundai collaboration focuses on physical labor, this new alliance with ABS targets the equally crucial work of verification and quality control.

According to the announcement, the partnership will leverage ABS's expertise in AI-driven data evaluation to create a framework for how robotic data is collected, assessed, and applied for certification purposes. Humanoid robots are seen as particularly well-suited for shipyard environments, which are inherently designed for human workers and often involve navigating complex, confined, or difficult-to-reach spaces.

"This collaboration with Persona AI reflects our commitment to innovation and safety, as we work to establish the standards and protocols that will enable humanoid robots to perform complex tasks reliably and securely in shipyard environments," said John McDonald, ABS President and Chief Operating Officer, in the press release.

Building Trust in Robotic Data

For any autonomous system to be adopted in a high-stakes industry like shipbuilding, its performance must be verifiable and meet stringent safety and quality standards. By partnering directly with a classification society like ABS, Persona AI is proactively addressing the regulatory and compliance hurdles that could slow down the adoption of humanoid labor.

The standards developed through this initiative will not only guide the future design of inspection robots but will also help define the very nature of remote and digitally-supported surveys.

"Partnering with ABS, the global authority on maritime standards, demonstrates that humanoid robotics are no longer a distant concept but on a path toward certified reality," said Nic Radford, CEO and Co-Founder of Persona AI.

This focus on creating a formal certification process marks a maturing of the industrial humanoid sector. It signals a shift from simply demonstrating capability to ensuring that the work performed by robots is trusted, repeatable, and officially recognized by industry authorities. As Persona AI continues to advance its hardware and AI, this parallel work on the regulatory framework could prove just as important for getting its robots out of the lab and into the shipyard.