Swiss startup Embodied AI shows AIR, a cage-free wheeled robot for factory lines
EPFL spin-out Embodied AI unveiled AIR, a two-armed wheeled robot for shared factory work, citing 95% task success in paid pilots but no price or delivery date.
Embodied AI, a 25-person startup spun out of EPFL in Switzerland, has unveiled AIR, a wheeled robot with a torso, head and two arms. CEO Francesco Stella presented it at Humanoid Europe 2026 in Munich on 6 November. The company says AIR can work next to factory staff without a safety cage, and that orders open after the unveiling.
The design keeps motors and other heavy parts in the torso and moves the arms with cables, so the arms stay light and give way on contact. An investor put the arm at 2 kg, lifting 5 kg. A remote operator runs the robot from its first shift, and the recorded work is used to train it. The company says AIR then handles the task alone within about a month. It reports a 95% average success rate in paid pilots with a consumer electronics maker and an automotive and industrial technology supplier, neither named. It also claims one robot can do the work of up to three people per shift.
Why it matters
Most wheeled humanoids so far target researchers. AIR is sold to factories as a working machine, which puts its safety claims under real scrutiny. Embodied AI plans CE marking in 2027, when the EU Machinery Regulation takes effect. Watch for price, payload, height, battery life and delivery dates, none of which are published. The company also has not said how many tasks the 95% figure covers, how success is defined, or how long the pilots ran.
