CAMBRIDGE, MA—Walden Robotics, a tech startup specializing in physical AI and humanoid robots, has received $300 million in investment funding.
Walden received funding from several OEMs and venture capital firms, including Toyota Motor Corp., Boeing, Samsung and Nvidia.
“Toyota…has high expectations for this investment,” says Hiroki Nakajima, executive vice president and chief technology officer of Toyota Motor Corp. “Walden’s uniqueness is its ability to deliver robots that provide value from day one in real-world work environments: robots that continuously improve through learning, while always keeping people at the center.”
Walden was launched out of Toyota Research Institute (TRI) in January 2026 and began working with customers across multiple industries immediately. Since February, Walden’s general-purpose humanoid robots have two arms, but wheels instead of legs. They have already been deployed at one of Toyota’s North American assembly plants, moving from pilot project to real work in less than two months.
“Core advances in physical AI have made disruptive change possible,” said Russ Tedrake, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of Walden, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and former senior vice president of large behavior models at TRI. “But, providing real value to customers and building a robust and scalable business requires a deep understanding and respect for how manufacturing is done today. The best way to make fast and positive progress is by working closely together with the real experts.”
Walden’s robots are designed to work side by side with people. The robots build on foundational AI and robotics research that Tedrake and other Walden engineers helped pioneer, including diffusion policy and large behavior models. The company’s AI technology enables robots to quickly learn new tasks and continuously improve through real-world practice.
Looking for quick answers on assembly and manufacturing topics?
Try Ask ASM, our new smart AI search tool.
Ask ASM
