Tether Invests in Humanoid Robots. When Will They Be Launched

RBK-cryptoPublicado a 2025-12-09Actualizado a 2025-12-09

Resumen

Tether, the company behind the USDT stablecoin, has invested in humanoid robotics through a €70 million funding round in Generative Bionics, a spin-off from the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT). The startup is developing "physical AI" robots for industrial use and human interaction, leveraging two decades of IIT research. Tether stated these investments support technologies that "expand human potential and reduce reliance on centralized systems." The first industrial deployment programs for these robots are planned for early 2026, targeting manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, and retail sectors. A full concept of the humanoid robot will be unveiled at the CES exhibition in Las Vegas. Tether investment portfolio also includes AI, financial services, energy, and biotech.

Tether, the company behind the largest stablecoin USDT, has announced investments in the development of humanoid robots through the Italian Institute of Technology's (IIT) spin-off startup Generative Bionics. The funding round raised €70 million.

Generative Bionics specializes in creating robots with "physical AI" designed for industrial use and human interaction. The startup utilizes two decades of IIT's robotics research, holds exclusive licenses to key technologies, and employs about 70 engineers and AI specialists from the Italian Institute of Technology, according to the statement.

Tether describes these investments as supporting new technologies that "expand human potential and reduce dependence on centralized systems controlled by large tech companies." The company noted it has previously invested in similar developments: Tether funds the creation of neural interfaces through Blackrock Neurotech, and together with Northern Data and Rumble, is deploying a global network for AI utilization.

Generative Bionics states that the first industrial deployment programs for robots are planned for early 2026. They will cover industries such as manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, and retail. The first full-concept humanoid robot developed by the company will be presented at the CES international exhibition in Las Vegas (held annually in January).

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that the company "is proud to support a team that turns Italy's scientific leadership into global industrial influence." Both Ardoino and another Tether founder, Giancarlo Devasini, are originally from Italy.

Beyond AI investments, Tether's portfolio includes investments in financial services, energy, biotechnology, education, and media across various countries. The company holds stakes in projects spanning commodities, money transfers, sports, and entertainment.

Only 7 native tokens have remained in profit since the beginning of the year. And it's not Bitcoin

Binance suspended an employee for insider trading. What happened

Strategy purchased the largest batch of Bitcoin since July

Preguntas relacionadas

QWhat is the name of the startup that Tether invested in for humanoid robot development?

ATether invested in the startup called Generative Bionics, a spinoff of the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT).

QHow much funding was raised in the investment round for Generative Bionics?

AThe funding round raised €70 million.

QWhat is the primary purpose of the 'physical AI' robots being developed by Generative Bionics?

AThe 'physical AI' robots are designed for industrial use and human interaction.

QWhen are the first industrial deployment programs for these robots planned, and which sectors will they cover?

AThe first industrial deployment programs are planned for early 2026 and will cover manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, and commerce.

QWhere and when will the first full concept of the humanoid robot developed by Generative Bionics be presented?

AThe first full concept of the humanoid robot will be presented at the international CES exhibition in Las Vegas, which is held annually in January.

Lecturas Relacionadas

Intel Soars 20%, CPUs Return to Center Stage in the Agent Era

Intel's stock surged 20% after reporting exceptional Q1 2026 results, with revenue of $13.6 billion (up 7% YoY) and non-GAAP EPS of $0.29, beating expectations by 29x. The rebound is driven by the resurgence of CPUs in the AI era, particularly as workloads shift from training to inference and agent-based applications. Intel’s Data Center and AI (DCAI) division hit a record $5.1 billion in revenue, up 22% YoY, marking a U-shaped recovery since mid-2025. The growth is attributed to strong demand for Xeon 6 "Granite Rapids" processors and increased AI infrastructure refresh cycles. While NVIDIA and AMD dominated the AI training phase, Intel is benefiting from the focus on AI agents, where CPU performance becomes critical—accounting for 50-90% of workflow latency in agent orchestration. This shift, coupled with management changes and strategic refocus on CPUs (including canceling the Falcon Shores GPU project), has repositioned Intel. New CEO Lip-Bu Tan emphasized that CPUs are re-establishing themselves as essential infrastructure in the AI era.

marsbitHace 14 min(s)

Intel Soars 20%, CPUs Return to Center Stage in the Agent Era

marsbitHace 14 min(s)

DeepSeek V4 Finally Released, Breaking the Strongest Closed-Source Monopoly, Explicitly Partnering with Huawei Chips

DeepSeek AI has officially released DeepSeek-V4, available in two versions: the high-performance **DeepSeek-V4-Pro** (49B activated parameters, 1.6T total) and the more efficient **DeepSeek-V4-Flash** (13B activated parameters, 284B total). Both support a 1M context length, making long-context capability a baseline feature rather than a premium offering. The Pro version rivals top closed-source models in agent capabilities, world knowledge, and reasoning performance. It outperforms Claude Sonnet 4.5 in agentic coding and approaches Claude Opus 4.6 (non-thinking mode) in quality. The Flash version offers competitive performance at a lower cost, though it lags in highly complex tasks. A key technical innovation is a new attention mechanism that reduces computational and memory demands for long contexts. The models are optimized for agent frameworks like Claude Code and OpenClaw. API services are available with support for both OpenAI and Anthropic-style interfaces. DeepSeek also announced upcoming support for Huawei’s computing hardware in the second half of the year. The models are open-sourced on Hugging Face and ModelScope.

marsbitHace 32 min(s)

DeepSeek V4 Finally Released, Breaking the Strongest Closed-Source Monopoly, Explicitly Partnering with Huawei Chips

marsbitHace 32 min(s)

Tether Cooperates with U.S. Sanctions to Freeze $344 Million in USDT, Reigniting Debate Over Stablecoin 'One-Click Freeze Authority'

Tether, the issuer of USDT, has frozen over $344 million worth of USDT across two Tron blockchain addresses in its largest-ever single compliance action. The freeze was carried out on April 23 in coordination with the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and other law enforcement agencies. The funds are suspected to be linked to sanctions evasion, criminal networks, or other illicit activities, though specific details were not disclosed. This action comes amid increased U.S. regulatory scrutiny, including sanctions against entities tied to Iran and Mexican drug cartels. Tether’s CEO, Paolo Ardoino, emphasized the company’s commitment to preventing illegal use of USDT, contrasting it with slower responses from competitors like Circle. To date, Tether has frozen over $4.4 billion in assets and collaborates with more than 340 law enforcement agencies across 65 countries. The move has reignited debate within the crypto community over the centralized "freeze authority" held by stablecoin issuers, challenging the notion that "your stablecoins are your own." Critics point to the built-in blacklist function in USDT’s smart contracts, which allows Tether to immobilize funds in targeted wallets, while proponents argue it enhances regulatory compliance and anti-money laundering efforts.

marsbitHace 36 min(s)

Tether Cooperates with U.S. Sanctions to Freeze $344 Million in USDT, Reigniting Debate Over Stablecoin 'One-Click Freeze Authority'

marsbitHace 36 min(s)

Why Hasn't the U.S. Seen the Rise of 'Huabei' or 'Jiebei'?

The article explores why the U.S. lacks large-scale consumer credit products like China's "Huabei" and "Jiebei," despite having a developed financial sector. Key reasons include: 1. **Structural Barriers**: A fragmented federal and state regulatory system, reinforced by post-2008 reforms like the Dodd-Frank Act, raises compliance costs and protects traditional banks, stifling fintech innovation. 2. **Credit Card Dominance**: Credit cards, used by 70-80% of adults, form a $1.28 trillion debt market with high APRs (avg. 22.3%). This system cross-subsidizes users who pay in full with those carrying balances, creating a predatory yet entrenched ecosystem. 3. **Data Privacy Laws**: Strict regulations (e.g., FCRA, CCPA) prevent tech giants from leveraging behavioral data for credit scoring, unlike in China where such data fuels fintech models. 4. **Capital Market Disincentives**: Wall Street penalizes tech firms entering finance due to lower valuations associated with heavy regulation and risk, as seen in Apple’s failure with Apple Card. 5. **Banking Oligopoly**: Major banks control consumer lending, leveraging lobbying power and consumer habits to maintain high-cost credit, while alternatives like payday loans (400% APR) or "unbanked" services remain niche or exploitative. Ultimately, regulatory, structural, and corporate interests collectively block the emergence of accessible, low-cost digital lending in the U.S.

Odaily星球日报Hace 42 min(s)

Why Hasn't the U.S. Seen the Rise of 'Huabei' or 'Jiebei'?

Odaily星球日报Hace 42 min(s)

More and More 'Model Supermarkets' Are Opening: ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent Compete to Integrate

Chinese tech giants like ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent are accelerating the rollout of integrated AI model subscription services—dubbed “model supermarkets”—to provide developers with bundled access to multiple leading domestic large language models (LLMs). ByteDance’s Volcengine recently upgraded its "Coding Plan" by adding newer models like GLM-5.1, Minimax M2.7, and Kimi k2.6, allowing subscribers to use various top models under a single monthly fee starting at ¥40. However, user feedback reveals significant issues, including rapid consumption of usage limits (e.g., hitting caps within hours), frequent server errors (like HTTP 429), and slow response times during peak hours. Complaints about misleading deduction rates—where calls to advanced models consume more quota—are also common. The trend is industry-wide: Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu have all launched similar multi-model coding plans. While these platforms reduce trial costs for developers, they also expose challenges in balancing affordability with service quality and computational stability. Amid this shift, independent AI companies like Zhipu, MiniMax, and Moonlight Face (Kimi) are developing strategies to avoid becoming mere “pipes” in this ecosystem—focusing on vertical applications, autonomous agents, and long-context models to retain competitiveness. Analysts suggest that, while platform aggregation may pressure model firms in the short term, specialized and vertical AI capabilities will remain differentiated in the long run.

marsbitHace 46 min(s)

More and More 'Model Supermarkets' Are Opening: ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent Compete to Integrate

marsbitHace 46 min(s)

Trading

Spot

Futuros