Phoenix the Humanoid Robot from Sanctuary AI Learns Faster and Costs Less

While more popular humanoid robotics firms like Boston Dynamics, Agility Robotics, and Figure seem to be winning the race of creating advanced general-purpose robots, Canadian company Sanctuary AI should not be overlooked for its Phoenix Humanoid Robot. You may not have heard much about it but Phoenix is already the seventh-generation humanoid robot of Sanctuary AI, and that should already tell you something.

Similar to other humanoid robotics firms, Sanctuary AI is focusing on creating Phoenix as human-like as possible in terms of movements. However, what sets said robot apart is how quickly it learns while costing much less than its “competitors”. The company claims that Phoenix is capable of automating new tasks in less than 24 hours, which is impressively quick for a humanoid robot.

“With generation seven, we have a system that we believe is the most closely analogous to a person of any available,” co-founder and CEO Geordie Rose says. “We see this as not only the cornerstone of general-purpose AI robotics but a critical step on the path to artificial general intelligence, and we’re thrilled to be leading the charge on it.”, says Rose.

Although the general consensus among many roboticists is that we’re still around five to ten years out from having robots that can learn as quickly as humans, the feat that Sanctuary AI has achieved with Phoenix is certainly a step toward said prediction.

It’s also worth noting that for such quick learning capabilities, the cost of purchasing or renting Phoenix is much, much cheaper than Agility’s Digit. In 2023, the price tag of Phoenix is around $40,000 while Digit is priced at $250,000! If we’re debating on price, then we have to give it to Sanctuary AI.

Nonetheless, whichever humanoid robotics firm ends up “winning” the title of best humanoid robot, they all contribute to the growth and development of this industry. It’s largely due to these firms that we have robots to thank as they help us out in different aspects of our lives, accomplish some tasks, and make things more efficient for us all.