Figure AI's CEO just raised $700 million for his next big bet

Hark, a San Jose AI lab founded by Brett Adcock, raised $700 million in a Series A round led by Parkway Venture Capital at a $6 billion valuation. The company is building personalized AI systems and hardware designed to interact naturally with people and the physical world rather than only through chat. Hark plans to roll out its AI models later this summer and provide early access to a personal AI platform, while it has not shared a timeline for releasing hardware devices. The funding includes participation from Nvidia, AMD Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and others. Hark has hired an Apple veteran and recruited engineers from Google, Meta, and Amazon. Adcock previously founded Archer Aviation and connects Hark’s AI agents to scaling Figure’s humanoid robots.

"Hark, a San Jose-based AI lab founded by Figure AI CEO Brett Adcock, announced Thursday it has raised $700 million in funding at a $6 billion valuation, the company said. Parkway Venture Capital led the Series A round, with participation from Nvidia, AMD Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and others. The startup builds personalized AI systems and hardware meant to interact more naturally with people and the physical world, not just through chat."

""We're building the AI that everyone deserves, but no one has built yet one that actually knows you, speaks your language, is highly personalized, and lives on hardware made for you," Adcock, Hark's CEO, said in a press release. "This funding helps us put that in people's hands quickly and at scale." While the company has been secretive about what it is building, it said it plans to roll out its AI models later this summer and give users early access to its personal AI platform."

"Hark did not provide a timeline for releasing its hardware devices. A host of major tech rivals are chasing a similar idea. OpenAI is working with longtime iPhone designer Jony Ive on a family of AI devices, while Apple, Google, and Meta are also developing AI gadgets. Hark has hired an Apple veteran of its own: Abidur Chowdhury, who helped design the iPhone Air."

"The startup has also recruited hardware and AI engineers from Google, Meta, and Amazon. Adcock founded Hark late last year with $100 million of his own capital, The Information previously reported. Figure's robots already use some of the firm's models, Adcock told Bloomberg, adding that Hark's work on AI agents will be important for scaling Figure's humanoids."

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