Noble Machines emerges from stealth with Moby, its industrial humanoid already deployed at a Fortune Global 500 customer
The Sunnyvale startup, formerly Under Control Robotics, shipped its first robots within 18 months of founding
Noble Machines, formerly known as Under Control Robotics, emerged from stealth on March 3, 2026, announcing that it had shipped and deployed its first industrial general-purpose robots at a Fortune Global 500 customer within 18 months of the company's founding. The Sunnyvale-based startup was founded in May 2024 by former engineers from Apple, SpaceX, NASA, and Caltech.
From prototype to deployment
Noble Machines was founded in May 2024, and its four co-founders built their third-generation humanoid from scratch in the first four months. The robot made its first public appearance at the Bay Area Humanoid Summit in December 2024, seven months after founding. The company operated under the name Under Control Robotics throughout its stealth period and did not announce funding or customer activity until the March 2026 emergence. Shipping hardware to a named customer tier before emerging publicly is uncommon; most humanoid companies announce a product and a roadmap first and deploy later.
The robot
Moby is designed for what Noble Machines describes as the 4D jobs: dull, dirty, dangerous, and declining. The robot carries a 27-kilogram payload, runs for five hours on a single charge, and is optimised for stairs, scaffolding, and cluttered non-uniform terrain rather than controlled indoor environments. It is powered by an NVIDIA Jetson Orin edge AI computer and supports multi-modal learning through language instructions, physical demonstrations, and gestures. Targeted sectors include manufacturing, logistics, construction, energy, and semiconductors.
Deployment model
Noble Machines uses staged validation with customers. Its initial proof-of-technology phase lasts about a month and defines the use case and success criteria before expanding scope. Current pilots focus on material handling in manufacturing.
Noble Machines has not named its Fortune Global 500 customer.
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