Generative Bionics

Generative Bionics is an Italian humanoid robotics company headquartered in Genoa, founded in July 2024 as a spin-off from the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), building on roughly two decades of Physical AI research conducted at the institute, including technology from the iCub, ergoCub, and iRonCub humanoid platforms. The company's co-founders include CEO Daniele Pucci, Executive Chairman Davide Rota, Chief AI Officer Alessio Del Bue, Chief Technology Officer Marco Maggiali, Chief Business Officer Andrea Pagnin, and Jeffrey Libshutz. Generative Bionics operates from offices at Via Enrico Melen 83 in Genoa, with a legal headquarters registered at Via Granello 3/19, also in Genoa.

The company's flagship product is Gene.01, a humanoid robot platform designed to work alongside people on repetitive, hazardous, or physically demanding tasks in manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, and retail settings. In July 2026, Generative Bionics unveiled a version of Gene.01 equipped with full-body tactile smart skin, giving the robot distributed touch sensing across its body rather than relying solely on cameras and joint-level force sensors, a design intended to improve safe physical interaction and manipulation in unstructured environments. Alongside the hardware announcement, the company stated it would open-source elements of its underlying model, framed as an effort to accelerate adoption and third-party development on top of its Physical AI stack. The company also announced a partnership with Fincantieri, the Italian shipbuilding group, to explore humanoid robot applications in shipyard and industrial settings.

In December 2025, Generative Bionics raised approximately 70 million euros in a funding round led by CDP Venture Capital's Artificial Intelligence Fund, with additional participation from AMD Ventures, Duferco, Eni Next, RoboIT, and Tether; RoboIT had also provided an earlier seed investment during the company's prototyping phase. As of the funding announcement, the company employed approximately 70 to 80 engineers, describing a combined team experience of more than 600 years in Physical AI and humanoid robotics. The company markets Gene.01 as designed and built in Italy, positioning itself within the broader European push to develop domestic humanoid robotics capability distinct from U.S. and Chinese competitors. Generative Bionics' business model combines direct hardware development of the Gene.01 platform with software and AI model work, reflecting its dual identity as both a robot manufacturer and an algorithm developer rooted in IIT's long-running whole-body humanoid control research.