NEW YORK & VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has made a strategic investment, through Accenture Ventures, in Sanctuary AI, a developer of humanoid general-purpose robots that are powered by AI and can perform a wide variety of work tasks quickly, safely and effectively.
“AI-powered humanoid robots are essential to reinventing work and supporting human workers as labor shortage is becoming an issue in many countries and industries,” said Joe Lui, Accenture’s global advanced automation and robotics lead. “Sanctuary AI’s advanced AI platform trains robots to react to their environment and perform new tasks with precision in a very short time. We see huge potential for their robots in post and parcel, manufacturing, retail and logistics warehousing operations, where they could complement and collaborate with human workers and automate tasks that traditional robotics can’t.”
Sanctuary AI’s general-purpose robot Phoenix™, recently recognized as one of TIME magazine’s “Best Inventions of 2023,” can perform a multitude of work tasks. For instance, at a Mark’s retail store in Langley, BC, Canada, Phoenix has performed more than 100 tasks, including choosing and packing merchandise, and correctly cleaning, tagging, labeling and folding items, with robotic hands that rival human hand dexterity and fine manipulation. Phoenix is powered by the company’s AI control system, Carbon™, which mimics subsystems found in the human brain, such as memory, sight, sound and touch, and translates natural language into action in the real world.
Geordie Rose, chief executive officer and co-founder of Sanctuary AI, said: “Robots with human-like intelligence will completely transform the workforce of the future. By combining Accenture’s expertise in disruptive technology with Sanctuary AI’s industry-leading robotics, we can help some of the biggest companies in the world manage this change and provide the best solutions for its clients.”
Accenture’s Technology Vision 2024 report found that 95% of executives surveyed agree that making technology more human will massively expand the opportunities of every industry. The report calls for taking a balanced, ‘human by design’ approach that ensures companies use technologies fairly and responsibly. Sanctuary AI is making this a reality by embedding Explainable AI in the Phoenix robot in order to feature reasoning, task and motion plans that can be defined and audited.
Accenture has previously invested in other robotics areas, for example, through Accenture Alpha Automation, a recently formed joint venture with Japanese robotics leader Mujin, and acquisitions of Eclipse Automation in Canada and Pollux in Brazil. Sanctuary AI is the latest company to join Accenture Ventures’ Project Spotlight, an engagement and investment program that connects emerging technology startups with Accenture’s Global 2000 client base in order to fill strategic innovation gaps. Project Spotlight offers extensive access to Accenture’s domain expertise and enterprise clients, helping startups harness human creativity and deliver on the promise of their technology.
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About Sanctuary AI
Founded in 2018, Sanctuary AI is a multi-award-winning company based in Vancouver, Canada. Sanctuary AI is on a mission to create the world's first human-like intelligence in general purpose robots that will help us work more safely, efficiently, and sustainably, helping to address the labor challenges facing many organizations today. Sanctuary AI's growing list of customers and investors represents a wide variety of industries across Canada, the US, and other countries around the world.
Members of the Sanctuary team founded D-Wave (a pioneer in the quantum computing industry), Kindred (first use of reinforcement learning in a production robot), and the Creative Destruction Lab (pioneered a revolutionary method for the commercialization of science for the betterment of humankind). With experience at startups and technology leaders such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Softbank Robotics, the team has experience launching market-defining innovations rooted in previously unsolved and deep scientific problems.
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