Genesis AI unveils GENE-26.5 model and custom robotic hands designed in-house, moving to full-stack robotics after raising $105 million seed round

Genesis AI, which raised a $105 million seed round co-led by Eclipse and Khosla Ventures in July 2025, has unveiled its first model, GENE-26.5, along with a set of robotic hands designed in-house. The company decided to build its own hardware after realizing it needed control over the hardware to achieve better model performance.

Genesis' robotic hand mimics human hand size and shape—unlike the two-finger grippers many robotics companies use—and is paired with a sensor-loaded glove that collects real-world data. This design reduces the 'embodiment gap' (the challenge of translating human movement data to robots) and allows the startup to gather more training data for tasks like cooking, playing piano, and solving Rubik's cubes.

The startup has 60 people split approximately 40-45% in Europe and 50-55% in the U.S., with offices in Paris, California, and London. Genesis plans to reveal its first general-purpose full-body robot shortly.