If you think engaging Alexa or Siri in a natural conversation is difficult, just try building a robotic humanoid that can function in any capacity similar to a human.

Getting machines to do seemingly simple tasks like climb stairs, slide down fire poles, assemble intricate components, and exhibit the dexterity that most humans can is an extremely difficult task. The oft-quoted refrain in the industry is that “robotics is hard.” It’s hard to make devices made of metal, electronics, and other human-engineered bits function in the same sort of purposeful, elegant way that human bodies can. So, how can it be in this industry awash with money, where anyone with a half-rational business plan spouting the terms AI and machine learning can raise ridiculous amounts with little market validation while the well runs dry for others run by industry veterans? Is the problem with AI? Is the problem with venture capital? Is the problem with robotics? Or is there something specific happening at each one of these notable robotics failures that bears closer examination? This is more money than was raised in the entire industry just a few years ago. In 2018, a single company, SenseTime, raised over $1.2 Billion in venture capital, with a rumored additional $1 Billion coming from venture giant Softbank. In 2017, that ballooned to $11.7 million.

According to Crunchbase, the average early-stage round for an AI startup in 2010 was about $4.8 million. This is a dramatic increase from 2008 when total AI funding was less than $200 million. According to a report by KPMG, over $12 Billion dollars in venture capital was raised in 2017 alone, more than doubling the previous year’s record tally of over $5 Billion. In the past few years, a staggering amount of venture capital has been raised by companies in the AI, machine learning, and cognitive technology spaces. How could it be that these robotics firms, run and operated by some of the most celebrated people in the AI industry could be failing when seemingly less-compelling solutions such as process automation tools and facial recognition applications are raising billions of dollars? Is robotics really that hard or is there something else going on in the industry? This is particularly perplexing since many AI companies are flush with cash and raising money at increasingly eye-watering levels and valuations. These companies shut down despite collectively raising several hundred million dollars in funding and developing their products over many years. Prior to that, Jibo, makers of a personal robotics device also shut down even after having raised over $70 Million. Mayfield Robotics, developers of the social robot Kuri, closed down a few months before Rethink in August 2018, despite just making its debut one year earlier at CES 2017. Rethink Robotics wasn’t the only robotics company forced to close its doors in the past year.

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