Enigma, a new artificial intelligence (AI) robotics research lab, has successfully closed a $70 million (approximately £55 million) seed funding round. The significant investment was led by prominent venture capital firms Index Ventures and Ribbit Capital, with additional participation from Sarah Guo's Conviction Partners. The funding will fuel Enigma's mission to fundamentally change how humans interact with robots, moving beyond current complex control systems.
Unlike many other robotics companies that are primarily focused on developing advanced foundation models capable of performing tasks they weren't explicitly trained for, Enigma is taking a different route. The less-than-one-year-old startup intends to deeply study human engagement with robots. This research aims to uncover insights that will lead to the creation of highly intuitive interfaces and potentially a new paradigm for robotic intelligence, making robot control as straightforward as adjusting a car's volume.
To gather crucial data on how humans prefer to communicate with machines, Enigma is launching an ambitious global online experiment. This initiative will allow anyone with internet access to interact directly with more than 100 of the company's proprietary AI robots. These robots, housed in specialised facilities in Israel and California, are capable of diverse tasks, ranging from artistic endeavours like drawing with a paintbrush to performing simple chemistry experiments by manipulating flasks and liquids, and even engaging in simulated sword fights.
Enigma was co-founded by Jonathan Jacobi, Microsoft's youngest-ever employee, and his long-time friend Gal Niv. The duo's background is rooted in cybersecurity research, having met during hacking competitions as teenagers and later serving together in Israel's elite Unit 8200. Despite lacking direct experience in robotics, Jacobi and Niv identified AI for robotics as a field ripe with exciting, unsolved problems and decided to apply their technical expertise to it, assembling a team of top talent from Israel's tech ecosystem.
Shardul Shah, a partner at Index Ventures, highlighted Enigma's outsider perspective as a key advantage. He commented that while many industry insiders approach embodied intelligence from the perspective of teleoperation or dexterity, Enigma's founders are starting from a fresh viewpoint: 'What's the ultimate experience?' Jacobi emphasised that the goal is to make human-robot interactions effortless, stating that current methods often lead to frustration where users would rather perform tasks themselves than spend time instructing a robot.
The startup believes that the data collected from its large-scale online experiment will be instrumental in revealing the ideal interface – the 'volume knob' equivalent for robotics. The public test will explore various communication methods, including text, audio, video demonstrations, and even direct tap, drag, and drop interactions. This open-ended approach is designed to glean a comprehensive understanding of natural human-robot communication preferences, paving the way for a new generation of user-friendly robotic systems.