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Teleodescribes itself as a construction robotics inauguration , but its mission is bigger than automate heavy equipment like excavator and tractors . Today , Teleo ’s retrofitted machinery allows its customers to operate their existing fleets semi - autonomously . In the future , the startup check the data it pull together as a key enabler for the robotics industriousness to reach its “ ChatGPT moment . ”
That is n’t an aspiration to hit the same level of hype surrounding ChatGPT . rather , Teleo CEO Vinay Shet sees an chance for robotics companies — and namely the one he draw — to gather vast datasets interchangeable to measure used to build ChatGPT so as to make big , biz - changing leaps in robotics .
And investor seem keen to help the inauguration pass on that milestone . TechCrunch has see that Teleo recently raised $ 16.2 million in backing through two extensions to its 2022 Series A round . The $ 9.2 million extension closed in April and another$7 millionone closed this week , according to recent filings and selective information from the company .
“ The foundation models that led to the creation of ChatGPT relied importantly on , effectively , gazillion of token worth of data point that was freely usable on the internet , on language , on videos , on images , and so away . That data point does not live in robotics , ” Shet told TechCrunch . “ The best dataset that we know of in the robotics world is about 2.4 million tokens , whereas in the spoken language macrocosm , they coach it on trillion of tokens . ”
Teleo drive to bridge over that gap by log data from its own casual operation , which Shet enunciate will end up “ becoming the basis upon which you could prepare on-key robotic foundation theoretical account ” that can lead to generalized word .
To progress that repertory of data point , Teleo necessitate to deploy rapidly , at scale , and across several industries . And the caller ’s strategy for doing that is wrapped up in its semi - self-directed approach . Teleo can retrofit any piece of equipment with the necessary ego - drive software and sensors — like camera , lidar , and radar — to beat back themselves autonomously in limited conditions . Remote human operators then abuse in to do more complicated task , like drop a dump truck , and can typically handle multiple vehicle at a fourth dimension .
“ That combination is what lets us solve the whole exercise pillow slip for the customer while delivering [ return on investment ] to the customer and make money through a tolerate - alone product , ” Shet say .
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In monastic order to maintain a divers dataset , Teleo recentlyexpandedbeyond construction and is deploying autonomous profound machinery , like wheel docker , terminal tractors , and excavators , across a range of industries , including pulp magazine and paper , logging , larboard logistics , agriculture , and munitions removal . Teleo is also targeting industries like aerodrome , waste and recycling , logistics , and snow removal .
The hope is that the data it collects — admit inputs from human operators , video footage , and sensor feedback — will allow Teleo to fine - tune or specialize foundational robotics fashion model . This could finally turn on the replacement or augmentation of the human in the closed circuit with a cloud - based AI agent capable of watch to control dissimilar machines , as a human would .
This long - terminal figure thinking is no doubt what attracted investors to the companionship . Teleo ’s recent extensions were pass by UP.Partners with participation from new investor Trousdale Ventures and Triatomic Capital , as well as returning investors F - Prime Capital and Trucks VC , among others .
Teleo says the funds will be used to surmount customer deployment , continue expanding to new industries , and heighten the startup ’s AI capableness , including an desegregation of large language models to unlock operator efficiency .
“ Over the next several age , you will see vertically incorporate company like ourselves actually deploy in the material world in a personal manner that make sensory faculty economically speaking and grows economically based off that , ” Shet pronounce . “ But along the way , they ’ll pull in enough data in the correct format so that it unlock that ‘ aha ’ second a few class down the road . ”
