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Generalist Releases GEN-1 Model to Enable Robots in Laundry Folding and Kitting Tasks
Silicon Valley startup Generalist has unveiled its GEN-1 model, designed to enhance off-the-shelf robots for tasks like folding laundry and packing items. The company, backed by investors including Nvidia's NVentures, raised $140 million in 2025. Founders draw parallels to AI advancements in language models.
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Generalist, a Silicon Valley startup developing robot brains, released a new model called GEN-1. The model enables off-the-shelf robots to handle tasks including folding laundry and kitting, according to Pete Florence, the company's CEO. Forbes reported that GEN-1 supports improvisation in unpredictable scenarios, such as adjusting a snagged item during packing.
In a demonstration, a robot equipped with a pair of disembodied arms and crablike pincers picked up a bag, shook it to adjust a snagged toy potted plant plushie, and placed it back on a conveyor belt. The robot had been instructed to open plastic bags on the conveyor belt and stuff toy potted plant plushies inside them. This action showed the robot improvising beyond its programmed task.
Pete Florence, who serves as CEO of Generalist, posed for a photo in the company's office with co-founder Andy Zeng. Florence founded Generalist with Google co-worker Andy Zeng and Boston Dynamics roboticist Andy Barry. Florence previously worked as a lead on PaLM-E, one of Google’s foundational robotics papers.
Generalist raised $140 million at a $440 million valuation in 2025. The startup's backers include Spark Capital, Nvidia’s NVentures, Bezos Expeditions, and Boldstart Ventures. The company's offices are located in San Mateo.
He added, “The limerick didn’t exist before. To achieve that, you need an improvisational level of intelligence. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang declared robots were entering the ChatGPT era last year. These data hands turn a person’s hands into pincer-like robot hands and collect visual and sensory data.
