A senior research scientist at DeepMind, Pete Florence, has left Google to launch his own robotics startup, Generalist AI, and has already secured investment from Nvidia, TechCrunch has learned. Florence, who worked on robotics and AI at DeepMind, was listed as co-founder and CEO of Generalist AI at a panel at Nvidia's GTC conference in San Jose yesterday.

The panel was for portfolio companies of Nvidia's VC arm, NVentures, which has become an active venture capital firm since Nvidia's financial success in the age of AI. Florence's new startup, Generalist AI, is still largely in stealth mode, but its mission is clear: "to make general-purpose robots a reality."

Florence left DeepMind a year ago, according to his LinkedIn profile. He is not alone in his decision to leave the renowned AI research organization. Several other DeepMind alums have founded their own companies, including autonomous coding startup Reflection AI, biotech startup Latent Labs, Mistral, and others. Outside of DeepMind but still within Alphabet, key leaders behind Google's viral NotebookLM product left to found their own AI startup late last year.

Florence's experience at DeepMind will undoubtedly be valuable in his new venture. He was part of the robotics division, which unveiled new AI models for controlling robots this month. In fact, work co-authored by Florence is cited four times in the paper announcing the models. While Florence couldn't specify exactly what his startup was up to during the GTC panel, it's clear that it will focus on robotics.

Florence's vision for Generalist AI is ambitious. "We are dead set on making robots that can do absolutely anything," he said in response to a question about what the world would look like if his startup was wildly successful. "So just imagine a world where the marginal cost of physical labor is driven to zero." This goal aligns with the startup's mission to make general-purpose robots a reality, which could have significant implications for various industries and aspects of our lives.

The investment from Nvidia's NVentures is a significant vote of confidence in Generalist AI's mission. Nvidia has been at the forefront of AI innovation, and its venture capital arm has been actively investing in startups that share its vision for the future of AI. With Florence's expertise and Nvidia's backing, Generalist AI is poised to make a significant impact in the robotics and AI space.

As the AI landscape continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how Generalist AI develops and how its mission to make general-purpose robots a reality unfolds. With the likes of Florence and other talented researchers and entrepreneurs driving innovation, the future of AI and robotics looks bright.