"Embodied AI Robotics Systems for Industry"
Vancouver company building Phoenix humanoid robot for general-purpose industrial work, powered by the Carbon AI control system, founded 2018.
Sanctuary AI (formally Sanctuary Cognitive Systems Corporation) is a Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada-based company founded in 2018 with a mission to develop human-like intelligence in general-purpose robots. The company's primary product is Phoenix, a full-size humanoid robot designed for deployment in industrial and commercial work environments.
The Phoenix robot stands 170 cm tall, weighs 70 kg, and features 40 total degrees of freedom. Its hands incorporate 21 degrees of freedom per hand, actuated by miniaturized hydraulic valves, with haptic (tactile) feedback rated to 5 mN sensitivity. The robot has a maximum payload capacity of 25 kg and a locomotion speed of 1.34 m/s. Operational runtime on a single charge is approximately 4 hours.
Phoenix is powered by Carbon, Sanctuary AI's proprietary cognitive architecture and AI control system. Carbon translates natural language instructions into physical robot actions by integrating modern large language models with a task-planning and motor execution layer. The company reports that the 7th generation Phoenix can master new complex manual behaviors in under 24 hours, representing a 50x improvement in autonomous task learning speed over earlier generations. The system supports explainable reasoning — operators can understand why the robot chose a particular action sequence.
Sanctuary AI has demonstrated Phoenix performing hundreds of distinct tasks across more than a dozen industries identified by its customers, spanning automotive, electronics manufacturing, retail, and logistics. The company is headquartered at 1825 Quebec Street, Vancouver, BC, and employs approximately 163 people as of early 2026.
Funding: Sanctuary AI received a C$30 million Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) contribution from the Government of Canada, bringing total disclosed funding to over C$100 million. A Series A round closed in May 2026. Investors include the Canadian government's SIF program alongside private backers. The company is also backed by the broader Canadian AI ecosystem and has received attention from automotive OEMs seeking to deploy general-purpose humanoid labor in assembly plants.
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WEBSITE
https://sanctuary.ai/HEADQUARTERS
Canada
Company Facts
Founded
2018
Primary Role
Manufacturer
Company Size
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Primary Region
North America
Annual Sales
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Funding Stage
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Funding Total
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