Sanctuary AI

• Phoenix

  Phoenix

• Customer site

  2024-04-11 - Sanctuary AI announced plans to pilot Phoenix at a Magna manufacturing facility; operating installation and robot quantity were not disclosed. - Announced future Phoenix pilot, not a verified operating site count - Magna manufacturing facility

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• Customer site

  2023-03-07 - Sanctuary AI completed a one-week pilot at Mark’s store in Langley, British Columbia, in January2023. - Completed January2023 retail pilot; robot generation not identified as Phoenix - retail operations

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Supply chain relationships

• PSYONIC

  Inbound - End Effectors - PSYONIC supplied Ability Hands to Sanctuary AI for robotics research

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• HaptX

  Inbound - Teleoperation - Sanctuary AI selected HaptX Gloves so human operators piloting Sanctuary humanoid robots can feel the objects being handled

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• 2024-07-03 - Strategic investment - Sanctuary AI announces strategic financing from BDC Capital and INBC

  Sanctuary AI announced an undisclosed strategic investment from BDC Capital’s Thrive Venture Fund and InBC; its over-C$140M cumulative investment figure is retained as context rather than a round amount. - source: sanctuary.ai

• 2022-03-02 - Series A - $58.5M - Sanctuary AI closes C$75.5M (US$58.5M) Series A funding

  Sanctuary AI raised C$75.5M (US$58.5M) in an oversubscribed Series A round. - source: sanctuary.ai

• BDC Capital - Participant - VC - 1 funding event - first seen 2024-07-03
• Bell - Participant - Unknown - 1 funding event - first seen 2022-03-02
• Evok Innovations - Participant - Angel / Individual - 1 funding event - first seen 2022-03-02
• Export Development Canada - Participant - Unknown - 1 funding event - first seen 2022-03-02
• InBC - Participant - Unknown - 1 funding event - first seen 2024-07-03
• Magna - Participant - Unknown - 1 funding event - first seen 2022-03-02
• SE Health - Participant - Angel / Individual - 1 funding event - first seen 2022-03-02
• Verizon Ventures - Participant - VC - 1 funding event - first seen 2022-03-02
• Workday Ventures - Participant - VC - 1 funding event - first seen 2022-03-02

• Daniel Friedmann - Chief Executive Officer and Chairman - Leads Sanctuary AI's commercialization of Physical AI for industrial applications.
• James Wells - Former Chief Executive Officer
• Olivia Norton - Co-Founder, Chief Engineering & Operations Officer and Director - Leads engineering and operations as Sanctuary AI develops and commercializes industrial Physical AI and robotic hardware.

Events

• 2026-06-17 - Demonstration - Sanctuary AI demonstrates production-ready Physical AI for industrial robotics

  The proof-of-concept involved flexible wire insertion into a moving target on a conveyor for a global Tier 1 automotive supplier. The system matched the customer production-line throughput benchmark and completed the task at full line speed. Sanctuary AI framed the milestone around deploying Physical AI on existing commercial robotic platforms as well as future industrial humanoids.

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• 2026-06-16 - Executive Hire - Daniel Friedmann appointed CEO and chairman of Sanctuary AI

  Friedmann moved from Sanctuary AI chairman into the chief executive role with the board's support. He previously led aerospace company MDA for nearly two decades and later served as CEO and chairman of Carbon Engineering. The company thanked outgoing CEO James Wells for his contributions.

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• 2026-05-26 - Partnership - Zeon invests in Sanctuary AI and partners on dexterous robotics materials

  Zeon Corporation, through Zeon Ventures, invested in and partnered with Sanctuary AI. The partnership focuses on specialized elastomeric materials and testing capabilities for Sanctuary AI dexterous robotic systems. Sanctuary AI frames the materials work around industrial durability and tactile precision for commercial dexterous-robot deployments.

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• 2026-04-01 - Demonstration - Sanctuary AI's robotic hand demonstrates zero-shot in-hand manipulation

  • Sanctuary AI's proprietary hydraulic hand autonomously manipulated a lettered cube, continuously reorienting it without prior specific tr... • The demonstration involved the hand performing complex in-hand manipulations using reinforcement learning techniques. • The robotic hand successfully handled various objects during the test.

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• 2025-05-15 - Demonstration - Sanctuary AI demonstrates Phoenix Generation 8 at Hannover Messe

  Phoenix appeared with Microsoft, using Azure infrastructure to bring dexterity-focused Physical AI to enterprise work scenarios. The show ran from March 31 to April 4, 2025; the presentation focused on frontline work and interaction with exhibition visitors.

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• 2025-03-18 - Demonstration - Sanctuary AI Uses NVIDIA Isaac Lab for Dexterous Manipulation

  • Sanctuary AI demonstrated sim-to-real transfer of dexterous manipulation policies for its hydraulic hands. • The company utilized NVIDIA Isaac Lab to simulate dexterity-focused training environments. • This approach enabled training thousands of hands simultaneously, accelerating the learning process.

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• 2025-02-26 - Capability - Sanctuary AI adds touch sensors to Phoenix robots

  Touch feedback supports manipulation when vision is occluded, including blind picking, slip detection and prevention of excessive applied force. The sensor data feeds Physical AI model training, while teleoperation pilots use the additional feedback for touch-driven tasks.

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• 2025-02-11 - Market Signal - Morgan Stanley ranks Sanctuary AI #3 on humanoid-related patent filings

  • Sanctuary AI was recognized by Morgan Stanley's Research division as a leader in humanoid robotics intellectual property, ranking third i... • The report, 'The Humanoid 100: Mapping the Humanoid Robot Value Chain,' was based on published patents and applications filed within the ... • Sanctuary AI has been building a patent portfolio through direct filings and strategic acquisitions.

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• 2024-12-19 - Product Launch - Sanctuary AI unveils new tactile sensors to improve dexterous manipulation

  Sanctuary AI designed the tactile sensors to combine compliance, sensitivity, durability and low manufacturing cost for dexterous manipulation. The company plans to cover all grasping surfaces with the sensors and use haptic servoing to improve precision and training-data quality. Sanctuary linked the work to its hydraulic hand actuation and human-level dexterity goals without identifying a specific robot product in the release.

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• 2024-12-16 - Product Launch - Sanctuary AI releases Phoenix Generation 8 for data capture

  Upgraded depth and vision cameras increased field of view and resolution, alongside changes to telemetry, sensors and audio/video systems. The redesign reduced bill-of-material costs and simplified commissioning; the wheeled base supported the upper-body work targeted by customers.

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• 2024-12-12 - Demonstration - Sanctuary AI Demonstrates In-Hand Manipulation with Hydraulic Robotic Hands

  Sanctuary AI's 21-degree-of-freedom robotic hands achieved in-hand manipulation, enabling fine manipulation tasks. The hands utilize miniaturized hydraulic valves, offering higher power density than cable and electromechanical systems. This advancement opens up a wide range of industrial applications requiring dexterous capabilities.

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• 2024-11-27 - Market Signal - Sanctuary AI identified as global leader in humanoid patents

  Sanctuary AI said it ranked fourth globally for patent holdings related to general purpose robotics and dexterous robotic hands. This belongs in the timeline because it reinforces Sanctuary's positioning around proprietary humanoid and dexterous-manipulation IP rather than just demo progress.

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• 2024-11-09 - Org Change - Sanctuary AI Company Leadership Update

  Geordie Rose stepped down as CEO of Sanctuary AI on November 9, 2024. James Wells, previously Chief Commercial Officer, was appointed as interim CEO. The board and executive team are committed to managing a smooth leadership transition.

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• 2024-07-03 - Funding - Sanctuary AI announces strategic financing from BDC Capital and INBC

  BDC Capital’s Thrive Venture Fund and InBC Investment Corp. made the strategic investment; the round amount was not disclosed. Sanctuary said total investment exceeded C$140 million, a cumulative figure that sits alongside a separate C$30 million government contribution. The company said the new capital would accelerate development of physical AI for general-purpose robots.

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• 2024-05-01 - Partnership - Sanctuary AI announces Microsoft collaboration to accelerate AI development for general purpose robots

  Sanctuary AI announced a collaboration with Microsoft focused on developing AI models for general purpose robots. The announcement positioned Microsoft as a technology partner supporting Sanctuary's effort to advance physical AI and robot intelligence, rather than as a customer or deployment site. This is one of the more important ecosystem partnerships in Sanctuary's timeline because it links the company directly to a major frontier-model and cloud platform player.

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• 2024-04-25 - Product Launch - Sanctuary AI introduces Phoenix Generation 7

  Wrist, hand and elbow range of motion increased, with more durable hands, smaller hydraulics and improved visual and tactile sensing. New-task automation time fell from weeks to less than 24 hours, alongside faster robot commissioning and a lower bill of materials.

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• 2024-04-11 - Partnership - Sanctuary AI partners with Magna on automotive robotics

  The collaboration combines robot development with an assessment of cost and scalability using Magna’s automotive products, engineering and manufacturing capabilities. Magna made a strategic equity investment and had already been an investor in Sanctuary AI since 2021.

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• 2023-12-20 - Acquisition - Sanctuary AI acquires key IP assets related to touch and grasping

  Sanctuary AI acquired key intellectual property assets related to touch and grasping, supporting its roadmap for general-purpose robots. The assets came through the acquisition of Tangible Research and related assets from Giant.AI, consolidating foundational capability in contact-rich manipulation. The expanded patent portfolio includes areas such as visual servoing and real-time simulation of grasping, aimed at more reliable performance in unstructured environments.

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• 2023-10-24 - Award - Sanctuary AI’s Phoenix joins TIME’s Best Inventions of 2023

  Phoenix paired Carbon’s language-to-action control with a five-foot-seven-inch body and dexterous hands featuring 20 degrees of freedom in total. TIME evaluated contenders on originality, efficacy, ambition and impact after soliciting nominations from its editorial network and an online application process.

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• 2023-05-16 - Product Launch - Sanctuary AI unveils Phoenix and Carbon

  The launch configuration stood five feet seven inches tall, weighed 155 pounds and carried a maximum payload of 55 pounds; its hands had 20 degrees of freedom in total. Carbon combined language models, symbolic reasoning, simulation training and human-in-the-loop supervision to translate instructions into robot action.

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• 2023-03-07 - Deployment - Sanctuary AI completes first commercial humanoid deployment at Mark's Langley with Canadian Tire Corporation

  Sanctuary AI completed the first commercial deployment of its general-purpose humanoid robot at a Mark's retail store in Langley, BC, through the company's partnership with Canadian Tire Corporation. The deployment was positioned around a concrete retail workload mix (for example, picking, packing, cleaning, tagging, labeling, and folding) rather than a one-off demo. The milestone matters because it anchors Sanctuary's early commercial story in a named, operational retail setting with a major Canadian retail partner.

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• 2022-11-30 - Award - Sanctuary AI receives $30 million from Government of Canada

  Signals significant government investment in robotics innovation with $30 million funding. Enables expansion of Sanctuary AI's capabilities in general-purpose robotics. Supports scaling efforts from prototype development to broader deployment.

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• 2022-03-02 - Funding - Sanctuary AI closes C$75.5M (US$58.5M) Series A funding

  Sanctuary AI raised C$75.5M (US$58.5M) in an oversubscribed Series A round. The company is focused on general-purpose robots designed to address labor shortages. The funding is intended to accelerate both humanoid hardware and cognitive AI development.

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Profile notes

• Sanctuary AI expanded from a humanoid-led product strategy to hardware-agnostic industrial automation

  reviewed 2026-07-18 - Sanctuary AI was built around Phoenix and the goal of putting human-like intelligence into general-purpose humanoid robots. In 2026 it expanded its route to market by deploying its Physical AI on existing industrial arms and custom end effectors while humanoid hardware remained a longer-term route.

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Relationships

• Zeon Corporation

  Materials Partner - Zeon and Sanctuary AI are collaborating on elastomeric components for dexterous robotic hands.

• Microsoft

  Technology Partner - Microsoft collaborates with Sanctuary AI to accelerate AI development for general-purpose robots.

• NVIDIA

  Software Platform - Sanctuary AI leverages NVIDIA Isaac Lab for training and simulation of its humanoid general-purpose robots.

• Magna

  Strategic Development Partner - Sanctuary AI and Magna collaborate on general-purpose robots for future automotive-manufacturing use, cost reduction and scaling.

Market context

Physical AI / Phoenix