The verified answer
As of Aug 2026, DEPLOY verifies Sanctuary AI: 1 model, 2 deployments across 1 region, $241.6M raised. 20 sources back the record.
CategoryHumanoids
Overview
Canadian Humanoid robotics company developing general-purpose humanoids with a focus on dexterous manipulation and teleoperation/AI control. Its Phoenix humanoid emphasizes human-like hands and task generalization.
Verified record
- Verified deployments
- 2 deployments on file
- Active incidents
- None on file
Valuation of record
Company-claimedPriced roundSeries C post-money
Key facts
Distinction
Approach
HQ
wikidata
Vancouver HQ
Magna pilot
Phoenix Gen 7
Data & sources
Press releases
5
News coverage
4
Patent documents
8
Web sources
3
20 sources backing this record.View all →
Models (1)
View all models →Partnerships
Every company Sanctuary AI has built with, alongside the ones only announced in a press release.
Most-frequent partners
- 1Magna International1× joint1 total
- 2Microsoft1× joint350 total
Most recent
- with Magna Internationaloperating
- Microsoft x Sanctuary AI2024-01-01with Microsoftoperating
Sanctuary AI on the deployment map
View the global map2 verified deployments across 1 region, newest verified Aug 2023. Explore where Sanctuary AI's robots are operating, by place and type.
View the full Sanctuary AI deployment record →
Relationships
Claims ledger
Public, dated claims by Sanctuary AI, each tracked against the evidence. Status is a DEPLOY assessment from primary sources: verified means an independent source confirms it; contradicted means one refutes it; open means the outcome is not yet determinable. Every entry keeps its verbatim quote and source so you can check the call yourself.
- OpenTimeline · claimed 2026-05-16
“Humanoid robots will hit homes in 3-7 years”
Claim made May 2026. No evidence to confirm or contradict yet. Given that Phoenix has no commercial deployment and the CEO was removed, this timeline is highly speculative. The range (3-7 years) is so wide as to be nearly unfalsifiable.
- Partly trueCapability · claimed 2026-01-01
“Phoenix can automate new tasks in under 24 hours through a combination of teleoperation (human-guided demonstration) and autonomous execution”
The claim itself acknowledges teleoperation as part of the process. The "24 hours" learning claim has not been independently verified. No customer deployment has been confirmed. IEEE Spectrum confirmed the robot is "very capable" but described it as teleoperated. https://spectrum.ieee.org/sanctuary-humanoid-robot
- ContradictedCapability · claimed 2024-05-01
“With Generation 7 Phoenix, we can drop these robots into any existing work environment”
No verified commercial deployment of Phoenix in any work environment exists. Geordie Rose was removed by the board in November 2024. The company has not announced any customer deployments as of July 2026. https://blog.robozaps.com/b/sanctuary-ai-phoenix-review
- ContradictedCapability · claimed 2024-01-01
“General purpose humanoid robots are designed to fit into any existing work environment”
Phoenix has not been deployed in any verified work environment. The "any existing work environment" claim is unsupported by any deployment evidence. Rose was removed as CEO in November 2024.
Disagree with a status? Sanctuary AI can submit a correction with evidence and we log the response on the record. Methodology and the full industry ledger live at /stats/claim-integrity.
Explainers
Plain-language answers to the questions people ask about Sanctuary AI, from DEPLOY’s explainer library. Each is written in the language of the question and cross-checked against this registry.
Who are the leading humanoid robot makers?
Which humanoid robot makers are American, Chinese, or from other countries?
What is Sanctuary AI and the Phoenix humanoid robot?
What is UBTech Walker S2 and is UBTech a real humanoid company?
Which humanoid robot manufacturers can I invest in?
What can humanoid robots actually do today?
Current leadership (2)
- James Wells CEOIR-verified
- Olivia Norton Co-founder, CTO & CPOIR-verified
ArrivalsGeordie Rose from PNDbotics
DeparturesGeordie Rose to PNDbotics
Founders (4)
- Geordie Rosecofounderfounded 2018-01-01no longer at company
later founded PNDbotics
- Suzanne Gildertcofounderfounded 2018-01-01no longer at company
- Olivia Nortoncofounderfounded 2018-01-01
- Ajay Agrawalcofounderfounded 2018-01-01
Board (1)
- Ajay Agrawal director
Former / Previously (2)
- Geordie Rose Co-founder & former CEOsecondary-verified
- Suzanne Gildert Co-founder & former Chief Science Officersecondary-verified
Safety record
No incidents on record for Sanctuary AI.
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 →
Operator customers (1)
- Sanctuary AI2 deployments
Brains developed (1)
- Carbonfoundation-model · commercial
Recent coverage
Sanctuary AI in third-party press
Peers
101 peers across 1 segment. Every Sanctuary AI competitor derived from shared form-factor and application-domain edges.
humanoid(101)
68 companies in this segment · competitive (HHI 574.5255335898561) · leader Figure AI at 1207%
- 1X Technologiesdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- 1X Technologiesdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- AI2 Roboticsdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- AIST Humanoid Research Groupdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- Acuminodirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- AgiBotdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
Supplied by (2)
Compute / semiconductor
Mechanical / contract manufacturing
- Magna Internationalcompany-levelMagna to contract-manufacture Sanctuary Phoenix; strategic manufacturing relationship + Phoenix deployment into Magna facilitiesmanufactures-forclaimedannounced
Inbound supply edges feeding this company directly or via the models it owns. Same source bar as the outbound view (verified against at least two strong sources).
Financial state
- Total funding
- $241.6M
- Reporting basis
- aggregator_estimate
- Lifecycle stage
- growth
- 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.
Partnerships
2 total · 2 operating
Every company Sanctuary AI has built with, alongside the ones only announced in a press release.
Most recent
- with Magna Internationaloperating
- Microsoft x Sanctuary AI2024-01-01with Microsoftoperating
Most-frequent partners
- 1Magna International1× joint1 total
- 2Microsoft1× joint350 total
Funding rounds (4)
Sanctuary AI’s 4 disclosed rounds, $242M in total, oldest to newest.
- Series C2024-07-03
$30M(undisclosed) · $300M post
Investors: BDC Capital (lead), InBC Investment Corp. (lead)
- Series B2023-06-01
$130M(reported) · $1.0B post
Investors: Evok Innovations (lead)
- Grant2022-11-01
$23M(reported) · $116M post
Investors: Government of Canada (lead)
- Series A2022-03-02
$59M · $351M post
Investors: Bell (strategic), Magna International (strategic), Verizon Ventures (strategic), Magna International, Bell Canada (BCE Inc.), Evok Innovations, Export Development Canada (EDC), SE Health, Workday Ventures, Accenture Ventures
Patent estate (8)
- US20240359319A1usptopendingassignee
- US20230311316A1usptopendingassignee
- US11787050B1usptograntedassignee
- US12409570B1usptograntedgranted 2025-09-09assignee
- US20240359319A1usptopendingassignee
- US11931894B1usptograntedgranted 2024-03-19assignee
Timeline
Every recorded move in Sanctuary AI’s history, most recent first: funding rounds, partnerships, acquisitions, supply-chain starts, key hires, and press.
ArrivalGeordie Rose joins
2026-08-23Geordie Rose joined from PNDbotics
DepartureGeordie Rose departs
2026-08-23Geordie Rose left to join PNDbotics
New supplierNew supplier: Maxon Motor
2026-08-23Supply: Motors for Phoenix robot from Maxon Motor
New supplierNew supplier: Maxon Motor
2026-08-23Supply: Actuators for Phoenix hydraulics from Maxon Motor
New supplierNew supplier: NVIDIA
2026-08-23Supply: NVIDIA GPU for Phoenix from NVIDIA
New supplierNew supplier: Intel RealSense
2026-08-23Supply: Intel RealSense for Phoenix from Intel RealSense
New supplierNew supplier: NVIDIA
2026-08-23Supply: NVIDIA GPU for Phoenix from NVIDIA
New supplierNew supplier: Magna International
2026-07-26Supply: Magna to contract-manufacture Sanctuary Phoenix; strategic manufacturing relationship + Phoenix deployment into Magna facilities from Magna International
Recent activity
Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.
- Verified media addedVerifiedJul 23, 2026
Sanctuary AI Phoenix at a task table
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 4, 2026
Sanctuary AI Phoenix manipulation demonstration
- Record createdMay 25, 2026
Added to the verified registry
- Deployment verifiedVerifiedAug 1, 2023
Phoenix at Toronto
- Deployment verifiedVerifiedJan 1, 2023
Phoenix at Langley, BC, Canada
Sources (12)
- Sanctuary AI: company website · https://www.sanctuary.ai/ · 2026-01-01
- Sanctuary AI: Wikipedia · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanctuary_AI · 2026-01-01
- https://www.sanctuary.ai/blog/sanctuary-ai-unveils-phoenix-a-humanoid-general-purpose-robot-designed-for-work
- https://www.therobotreport.com/sanctuary-ai-enters-strategic-relationship-with-magna-to-build-embodied-ai-robots/
- https://www.sanctuary.ai/blog/sanctuary-ai-announces-microsoft-collaboration-to-accelerate-ai-development-for-general-purpose-robots
- https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sanctuary-ai-announces-microsoft-collaboration-to-accelerate-ai-development-for-general-purpose-robots-302133360.html
- https://www.sanctuary.ai/blog/sanctuary-ai-announces-strategic-financing-from-bdc-capital-and-inbc
- https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sanctuary-ai-announces-strategic-financing-from-bdc-capital-and-inbc-302188928.html
- https://www.therobotreport.com/sanctuary-ai-latest-phoenix-humanoid-can-learn-tasks-in-24-hours/
- https://www.therobotreport.com/sanctuary-ai-obtains-canadian-funding-general-purpose-humanoid-development/
- https://www.robotics247.com/article/sanctuary_ai_releases_next_generation_of_phoenix_general_purpose_robot
- https://www.iotworldtoday.com/robotics/microsoft-sanctuary-ai-team-to-advance-general-purpose-robots
Common questions
What is Sanctuary AI?
What does Sanctuary AI make?
Is Sanctuary AI publicly traded?
Who competes with Sanctuary AI?
Who is the CEO of Sanctuary AI?
How can I invest in Sanctuary AI?
Where is Sanctuary AI headquartered?
How much funding has Sanctuary AI raised?
Who owns Sanctuary AI?
Where does Sanctuary AI operate robots?
How many robots has Sanctuary AI deployed?
Is Sanctuary AI a top robotics company?
When was Sanctuary AI founded?
Is Sanctuary AI safe?
Methodology: Verified · 12 sources (5 primary) · last reviewed 2026-08-21
Verification posture
Verified
High confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-08-21
Sources by quality tier
- 5
- primary-company-ir
- Company IR disclosure
- 4
- secondary-trade-publication
- Trade publication
- 2
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
- 1
- knowledge-base
- Knowledge base
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for Sanctuary AI.Peer companies
- Unitree Robotics10 models
- DLR Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics6 models
- Dobot6 models
- AgiBot5 models
- AheadForm5 models
- Boston Dynamics5 models
In the press
Recent coverage mentioning Sanctuary AI from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
Sanctuary AI Expands Physical AI Strategy to Industrial Robotics
Sanctuary AI pivoted to a hardware-agnostic model, offering its Physical AI software to run on existing industrial robots alongside its dexterous-hand technology, moving away from…
Sanctuary AI Releases Phoenix Generation 8 for High Quality Data Capture
Sanctuary AI released Phoenix Generation 8, its eighth-generation humanoid robot. Wheeled base, improved field of view and resolution. Designed for versatile and safe labor.…
Sanctuary AI releases Phoenix Generation 8 humanoid robot
Sanctuary AI released Phoenix Generation 8, its eighth-generation humanoid robot. Wheeled base, improved field of view and resolution. Designed for versatile and safe labor.
Top 8 Humanoid Robot Companies to Watch in 2026
Top 8 humanoid companies: Figure AI, Agility Robotics, Tesla, Boston Dynamics, Apptronik, 1X Technologies, Unitree, Sanctuary AI.
Sanctuary AI: Humanoid Robots Will Hit Homes In 3-7 Years
Sanctuary AI CEO James Wells stated that humanoid robots will reach homes in 3-7 years, with industrial deployments leading the way before consumer applications.
Auto giant Magna to pilot Sanctuary AI's humanoid robots for factory use
Magna International will pilot Sanctuary AI's Phoenix humanoid robots in its factories, as the Vancouver-based company unveils its seventh-generation robot.
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /companies/sanctuary-ai.md
- RSS feed: /companies/sanctuary-ai/feed.xml
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/companies/2d63e78e-0911-4454-b518-330d419e291f
- Revision history: /companies/sanctuary-ai/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Peer companies
- Unitree Robotics10 models
- DLR Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics6 models
- Dobot6 models
- AgiBot5 models
- AheadForm5 models
- Boston Dynamics5 models
Video
Sanctuary AI is setting the stage for more ‘dexterous and versatile’ humanoid robots with its latest breakthrough: in-hand manipulation.
Major improvements all delivered in less than a year. Our next generation of general-purpose technology marks an inflection point in task automation velocity.
“Dexterous capability is directly proportional to the size of the addressable market for general-purpose humanoid robots,” says James Wells, interim CEO and CCO
Sanctuary AI has partnered with Microsoft to accelerate the development of advanced AI and AGI technologies in robotics, using Microsoft's Azure to enhance thei
Who is the leader in robotics today? It’s hard to tell, but many are banking right now. Sanctuary AI for example has just attracted another round of investment,
A rather mysterious AI startup is claiming to be working on the smartest Robot AI ever made which could even rival humans in some areas. The company is called S
PSA: This is your reminder to get up and take a quick stretch! But in all seriousness, it is important to be able to move, rotate, and stretch your body in orde
Discover the forefront of technological innovation with our comprehensive coverage of the latest developments in robotics, artificial intelligence, space explor
Work tools like scanners are designed for people to use. Dexterous hands allow Phoenix to use our tools and interact with the world in the same ways that we do.
Sanctuary AI has unveiled an expanded Physical AI strategy, backed by a landmark demonstration on a complex industrial task. Our hardware-agnostic approach exp
Reality vs attention
Sanctuary AI draws attention at the 77th percentile but verifies reality at the 9th percentile among humanoids. Hype Gap +67.9, 3rd widest among humanoids.
6-month trend
Analysis
Clean safety record across 2 verified deployments. Meaningful press and media coverage across the period. Deployment footprint remains limited relative to category peers.
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 24, 2026