# Cortex AI: robot AI company

Canonical ID: `8d43d4a7-4fdd-4894-8576-c4efb20c3bf5`

## Key facts

- **Background:** A Y Combinator Fall 2025 company in [San Francisco](/locations/san-francisco-ca.md); founder and CEO Lucas Ngoo was co-founder and CTO of Carousell.
- **Cortex Harness (company-stated, Oct 2026):** Launched Oct 6 2026: runs LLMs and [vision-language-action](/glossary/vision-language-action-model.md) models on real robots, with remote humans taking over via prompts or VR when stuck.
- **Data loop (company-stated):** Each intervention is logged as recovery data for post-training: deploy, recover, collect, train, redeploy.
- **Demo (company-stated, Oct 2026):** Demos used [GPT-6 Astra](/brains/gpt-6-astra.md), including an operator in [Singapore](/locations/singapore.md) helping a robot in [San Francisco](/locations/san-francisco-ca.md) insert a battery.
- **Status (Oct 2026):** Beta via a waitlist with $100 in credits. No customers, fleet size or funding disclosed.

- **Slug:** cortex-ai
- **Status:** private

## Models

_No models registered._

## Supplies to

_No verified supply relationships on file. Supply-chain coverage is being added across the registry; check back as the seed populates this company's outbound edges._

_Outbound supply edges. Each appears when verified with at least two strong sources. Sources are append-only; corrections add new sources rather than rewrite history._

## Common questions

### What is Cortex AI?

[San Francisco](/locations/san-francisco-ca.md) robotics data startup (Y Combinator Fall 2025) collecting real-world robot and human data for [embodied AI](/glossary/physical-ai.md) and offering Cortex Harness, which runs frontier and [VLA](/glossary/vision-language-action-model.md) models on real robots with remote human takeover.

### What does Cortex AI make?

Cortex AI has no robot models recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Cortex AI builds robot foundation models or autonomy software.

### Is Cortex AI publicly traded?

No. Cortex AI is privately held and not publicly traded, per the DEPLOY registry.

### How can I invest in Cortex AI?

Cortex AI is a private company; its shares are not available on public markets, so retail investors cannot buy the stock today.

### Who owns Cortex AI?

Cortex AI is privately held; ownership sits with its founders and private investors.

### Is Cortex AI a top robotics company?

On DEPLOY's intelligence score, which blends verified deployments, funding, hiring, media, safety, and IP signals, Cortex AI ranks in roughly the top 99% of companies tracked by the registry.


## Sources (3)

1. https://cortexrobot.ai/research/introducing-cortex-harness/ · 2026-10-06
2. https://cortexrobot.ai/harness/ · 2026-10-06
3. https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/cortex-ai · 2026-10-06

## The verified answers

- [Which companies have the most robots deployed](/which-companies-have-the-most-robots-deployed.md)
- [Which operators run the most robots](/which-operators-run-the-most-robots.md)
- [Which robot operators cover the most countries](/which-robot-operators-cover-the-most-countries.md)

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