Sanja Fidler, the former head of Nvidia’s Toronto AI lab, has launched a new startup to tackle how robots interact with the physical world through AI.
Fidler announced in a LinkedIn post today that she’s launching physical AI startup Veeda AI alongside longtime Nvidia colleagues Zan Gojcic, who will serve as CTO, and Huan Ling, who will be chief scientist. The startup will focus on world models—AI models trained on physical, spatial, and movement data about the environment.
“At Veeda, our sole mission is to build simulated reality for Physical AI. Our conviction is that this will become the critical infrastructure layer for all areas of robotics,” Fidler wrote.
Fidler said Veeda AI is backed by Toronto’s Radical Ventures and Silicon Valley firm Khosla Ventures, and filings show the company, officially named Veeda Innovation, was incorporated in June. The company confirmed that it has raised $90 million USD ($124 million CAD) from investors so far, as first reported by The Logic.
The University of Toronto associate professor announced her departure from Nvidia earlier this month, writing online that world models (which are meant to simulate the physical world) are “where the next breakthrough lies.”
Feature image courtesy Sanja Fidler via LinkedIn.
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