Persona AI
shipyard humanoid
Houston start-up building a humanoid welder for HD Hyundai shipyards; prototype targeted for end of 2026.
Persona AI, founded in 2024 by robotics veterans from Nauticus Robotics and Figure AI, is developing a bipedal humanoid for shipyard welding with HD Hyundai. The partnership is an MOU with a prototype target of end-2026 and field testing in 2027. The company shows teleoperated welding demos; no finished autonomous robot video was found.
Our verdict
Well funded and anchored by a real shipbuilder, but still a promise: watch for the end-2026 prototype before treating it as a product.
Video
Persona AI
ABS
Availability
No public price
No product offered.
as of 2026-10
No public price
Pre-production deliveries targeted by end of 2026; no ordering.
as of 2026-10 · Source
No public price
No product offered.
as of 2026-10
Deployments
| Customer | Location | Type | Since | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering / HD Hyundai Robotics MOU to develop humanoid welding robots; prototypes by end of 2026, field testing and commercial deployment from 2027. Vazil Company builds welding tools and test environment. | Shipyards in South Korea (planned) | Agreement | May 7, 2025 | prnewswire.co.uk |
Timeline
Promises
Sources
- HD Hyundai and Persona AI sign agreement to deploy humanoid welding robots PR Newswire · Oct 31, 2026
- Persona AI raises $27M The Robot Report · Oct 31, 2026
- Persona AI reports $65.4M sold toward a planned $142M offering Runtime Wire · Oct 31, 2026
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