The verified answer
As of Aug 2026, DEPLOY verifies Foundation: 1 model, $24.0M raised. 3 sources back the record.
CategoryHumanoids
Overview
US humanoid startup (San Francisco; founded 2024; CEO Sankaet Pathak, ex-Synapse) making the Phantom MK1 humanoid; mid-2026 posture is defense/military (Ukraine testing, Pentagon SBIR). Documented history of exaggerated customer claims (GM denial).
Reality check
Skeptical flag
Research/demo; documented GM-claim denial (June 2024); defense pivot; no verified deployment.
Verified record
- Verified deployments
- None on file
- Active incidents
- None on file
Key facts
Product
CEO
Defense/military posture timing
Testing location
Defense program
Key product
Pentagon contracts
Production target
Military testing
Data & sources
News coverage
2
Web sources
1
3 sources backing this record.View all →
Models (1)
View all models →Foundation on the deployment map
View the global mapFoundation has no verified deployments on the DEPLOY registry yet. Explore the deployment map by place and type.
No verified deployments for Foundation on the DEPLOY record yet. Track Foundation to know the moment the first one is verified.
Current leadership (2)
- Pathak Founder & CEOreported, not verified
- Sankaet Pathak CEOreported, not verified
Founders (1)
- Pathakcofounder
Safety record
No incidents on record for Foundation.
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Full safety record: incidents, sourcing, and exposure data →
Recent coverage
Foundation in third-party press
University of Rhode Island Wins Grant to Study Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy Prevalent in Alzheimer’s Patients
Huawei Open-Sources AscendNPU IR, the Core of the BiSheng Compiler: Triton and Multi-Language Support for Ascend 950
Facing invasion and abuse, vulnerable mothers take refuge in Kyiv shelter
Peer companies
- Unitree Robotics9 models
- AgiBot5 models
- Boston Dynamics5 models
- UBTech Robotics5 models
- 1X Technologies4 models
- Fourier Intelligence4 models
Financial state
- Reporting basis
- private_reported
- Lifecycle stage
- early
- Counterparty risk class
- moderate
Each numeric field carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.
Funding rounds (1)
- Other2025-12-01
$24M(reported)
Recent activity
Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 5, 2026
Foundation Phantom walking test
- Record createdJun 3, 2026
Added to the verified registry
Sources (3)
Common questions
What is Foundation?
What does Foundation make?
Is Foundation publicly traded?
Who competes with Foundation?
Who is the CEO of Foundation?
How can I invest in Foundation?
Where is Foundation headquartered?
How much funding has Foundation raised?
Who owns Foundation?
Where does Foundation operate robots?
Is Foundation a top robotics company?
When was Foundation founded?
Is Foundation safe?
Methodology: Verified · 3 sources (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-08-05
Verification posture
Verified
Medium confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-08-05
Sources by quality tier
- 2
- secondary-established-publication
- Established publication
- 1
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for Foundation.Peer companies
- Unitree Robotics9 models
- AgiBot5 models
- Boston Dynamics5 models
- UBTech Robotics5 models
- 1X Technologies4 models
- Fourier Intelligence4 models
In the press
Recent coverage mentioning Foundation from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
University of Rhode Island Wins Grant to Study Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy Prevalent in Alzheimer’s Patients
The University of Rhode Island $1.5 million grant is part of a $9 million five-year Transatlantic Networks of Excellence grant from the Leducq Foundation. The initiative is known…
Huawei Open-Sources AscendNPU IR, the Core of the BiSheng Compiler: Triton and Multi-Language Support for Ascend 950
At the Meet AI Compiler salon hosted by HyperAI, Huawei AscendNPU IR architect Hai Lijuan detailed the open-sourced compiler foundation: an MLIR-based tile-level abstraction for…
Facing invasion and abuse, vulnerable mothers take refuge in Kyiv shelter
The shelter, funded by the Ukrainian Public Health Foundation has taken in 150 women and children since 2022.
Humanoid robots could patrol southern border, CEO pitches, as futuristic technology moves closer to reality
Foundation CEO Sankaet Pathak said humanoid robots could conduct autonomous surveillance and reconnaissance along the southern border's rugged terrain.
Building the Invisible Jobsite
Building the Invisible Jobsite How the Connective Tissue Between Systems Became Construction’s Real Advantage Picture a well-run construction project five years from now. A tower…
LG’s humanoid robot arrives in 2027, running Nvidia’s Isaac GR00T
LG will unveil a bipedal humanoid robot in the first quarter of 2027, built on Nvidia’s Jetson Thor processor, Isaac GR00T foundation model and Halos safety system. The two signed…
America is sailing through the Taiwan Strait less. Does it matter?
A Heritage Foundation study shows a significant drop in Taiwan Strait transits by the US military under the second Trump administration.
Award-winning Nevada gaming reporter Howard Stutz plans retirement
It'll be impossible to replace Howard, and we look forward to celebrating all his contributions to Nevada journalism when he is inducted into the Nevada Press Foundation's Hall of…
LG to unveil new Nvidia-powered humanoid robot in early 2027
South Korean electronics giant LG is developing a next-generation bipedal humanoid robot built using Nvidia Isaac GR00T, Nvidia’s open reasoning humanoid foundation model, for a…
LG, Nvidia Expand Robotics Collaboration With New Humanoid, Factory Robot Plans
Insider Brief LG announced it is developing a humanoid robot using Nvidia’s Isaac GR00T foundation model, with a public unveiling planned for the first quarter of next year. LG…
Meshy Launches Meshy 7: Image-to-3D Model Built Around Alignment
Meshy has released Meshy 7, the latest version of its image-to-3D foundation model, alongside a new benchmark method for scoring how closely a generated 3D asset matches the image…
Thermo and Michael J. Fox Foundation Collaborate to Advance Proteomics-Enabled Parkinson’s Therapy
PPMI creates a large-scale proteomics resource designed to help researchers study Parkinson’s disease at the protein level and investigate biological signals associated with…
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /companies/foundation.md
- RSS feed: /companies/foundation/feed.xml
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/companies/bbca758e-d07c-4c56-90ea-d5fd3baf142c
- Revision history: /companies/foundation/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Peer companies
- Unitree Robotics9 models
- AgiBot5 models
- Boston Dynamics5 models
- UBTech Robotics5 models
- 1X Technologies4 models
- Fourier Intelligence4 models
Video
Abstract: Foundation models, such as GPT, have marked significant achievements in the fields of natural language and vision, demonstrating exceptional abilities
Hypertension affects nearly half of U.S. adults, and 10% of those cases don’t respond well to treatment. U.S. National Science Foundation-supported professor Ta
To get started with Isaac Sim and Isaac Lab, I introduced the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute (DLI) learning path. Part 1 covers what an Embodied AI is as a moti
Hypertension affects nearly half of U.S. adults, and 10% of those cases don’t respond well to treatment. U.S. National Science Foundation-supported professor Ta
Looking to reenergize the defense industrial base and promoting "AI-proof, six-figure jobs," the DoD partnered with the former "Dirty Jobs" host for advocacy.
Hypertension affects nearly half of U.S. adults, and 10% of those cases don’t respond well to treatment. U.S. National Science Foundation-supported professor Ta
The sustained influx of fentanyl and other illicit drugs has had a profound impact on the lives of Americans. Louise Shelley, a professor emerita at George Maso
Tribute to Army Staff Sergeant Ryan Knauss, his mother creates a foundation that awards scholarships to JROTC cadets in his memory.
Head of the group behind the forthcoming Global War on Terrorism memorial says first public renderings are not the "final concept," and changes are expected.
In Alcoa, one group hung 50 6 ft flags bearing veterans’ names in a partnership with the city.
Brock White with Medora Foundation on future of Medora Kxnet.com Welcome to the KXMB/KXMC YouTube channel, your home for all news, sports, and weather in west
Veteran investor Warren Buffett has held off on his usual donation to the Gates Foundation while awaiting the outcome of a review into the foundation’s ties to
Warren Buffett has reportedly paused his annual gift to the Gates Foundation due to the Microsoft cofounder’s ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, acc
Intelligence is stepping into the physical world, and QNX is powering the transition. Leveraging the sophisticated architecture of the modern software-defined
Secure information is essential in the digital exchanges of modern life. U.S. National Science Foundation-supported professor Vinod Vaikuntanathan discusses qua
Secure information is essential in the digital exchanges of modern life. U.S. National Science Foundation-supported professor Vinod Vaikuntanathan discusses qua
Secure information is essential in the digital exchanges of modern life. U.S. National Science Foundation-supported professor Vinod Vaikuntanathan discusses qua
Can artificial intelligence innovations transform the way you get surgeries? U.S. National Science Foundation supported engineers are developing autonomous heal
"Overcoming the safety and security barriers to autonomous vehicle deployment" presented by Colin Robbins Nexor & Prof. Carsten Maple University of Warwick at t
Reality vs attention
Foundation draws attention at the 90th percentile but verifies reality at the insufficient-data level among humanoids.
6-month trend
Analysis
Meaningful press and media coverage across the period. Funded with institutional backing on record.
Signal flags
Dimension breakdown
Verified signal
Attention (reach, not merit)
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
DEPLOY Indices — verified vs claimed
Last computed: Aug 17, 2026