Ex-Tesla Scientist Co-founds UMA Robots, Unveils Humanoid Northstar

Paris-based startup UMA Robots has officially unveiled the design of its first bipedal humanoid robot, Northstar, marking the arrival of a significant new player in Europe's embodied AI sector. The event has drawn attention due to the founders' high-profile backgrounds and their ability to build a prototype from scratch in a remarkably short time.

Team and Background

UMA Robots was co-founded by Rémi Cadene, a former Tesla Optimus scientist and core member of the Hugging Face open-source robotics project LeRobot, alongside Pierre Sermanet, a former Google DeepMind researcher. The company aims to build general-purpose humanoid robots for manufacturing, logistics, and home environments, focusing on developing mobile robots with human-level dexterity to push the boundaries of embodied AI.

Northstar Prototype and R&D Progress

At the Machina Summit, UMA Robots introduced the Northstar humanoid robot. Designed and assembled in Paris, the prototype was completed in approximately nine months. The design philosophy behind Northstar is to create a robot capable of navigating human spaces and using human tools, featuring an approachable appearance and a steady demeanor. Visuals reveal a skeletal-style design that exposes internal structures, integrating industrial aesthetics with fashion elements. Additionally, the team demonstrated the robot's dexterous manipulation capabilities, reinforcing their vision of building a "robot for humans."

2026-07-07 ~ 2026-07-08 · 17 related posts

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