NVIDIA published details on the S1 launch, its benchmark results, Foxconn deployment, and Skild's $100M annual revenue run rate
ConcludedRan 3 days2 sourcesupdated 10 Sep 2026
Skild AI Launches S1 Robot Foundation Model With Single-Video Learning
The gist
A robot foundation model that adapts to new tasks from a single video without retraining compresses the time and cost of deploying robots to new tasks. Skild's reported commercial traction, including a $100 million annual revenue run rate and over 60 deployment partnerships, indicates the approach is already in production use.
When stories like this move, I write about them in an email each morning.
One free email each morning, around 8 AM US Eastern.
Check your email.
I have sent you a confirmation link. One click and you are in.
Not in your inbox? Look in spam or promotions. If it's there, mark it "Not spam" so future editions land in your inbox.
The full picture
Skild AI has launched S1, a robot foundation model that uses in-context learning to execute unfamiliar multi-step tasks from a single video demonstration without retraining or weight updates. The model adapts behavior by changing only the video prompt, a property described as "prompt steerability," which determines whether a new robot task requires new training. In tests, S1 succeeded on roughly 66% of steps for new multistep tasks compared to roughly 9% for a comparable AI system, and one video demonstration was estimated equivalent to roughly 380 hands-on training examples. Skild, NVIDIA, and Foxconn are deploying the model on dual-arm manipulators for high-precision assembly of NVIDIA Blackwell systems. Skild and NVIDIA are also jointly developing GPU-accelerated simulation solvers for robot manipulation to be released via Newton. Skild AI reached $100 million annual revenue run rate within 10 months of its first commercial deployment and has over 60 deployment partnerships.
How it developed
Rohan Paul described S1's prompt steerability and its economic significance for robot foundation models
Sources
- Skild AI Trains Humanoid Robot to Play Soccer via 140 Years of Sim Self-Play
- Dyna Robotics' Dyna-2 robot foundation model
- Dyna Robotics' semi-humanoid robot Taku
- Google DeepMind's Genie 4 world model launch
BackgroundFrontier models, open models, and how they are compared
Get the daily email
When stories like this move, I write about them in an email each morning.
One free email each morning, around 8 AM US Eastern.
Check your email.
I have sent you a confirmation link. One click and you are in.
Not in your inbox? Look in spam or promotions. If it's there, mark it "Not spam" so future editions land in your inbox.