Role at Physical Intelligence
Former Google DeepMind senior staff research scientist who spearheaded foundational robot learning and manipulation programs.
Physical Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence & Physical Robotics Foundation ModelsFounded 2024- HQ today: San Francisco, California, USA
Reviewed by Swet Parvadiya
Company data updated: November 2026
Founders
Who Founded Physical Intelligence?
Karol Hausman, Sergey Levine, Chelsea Finn, Brian Ichter, Lachy Groom · Founded 2024 · HQ today: San Francisco, California, USA
Who founded Physical Intelligence?
Physical Intelligence was founded by Karol Hausman, Sergey Levine, Chelsea Finn, Brian Ichter, Lachy Groom in 2024. It is now led by Karol Hausman.
- Founders
- Karol Hausman, Sergey Levine, Chelsea Finn, Brian Ichter, Lachy Groom
- Founded
- 2024
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, California, USA
- Number of founders
- 5
- Current CEO
- Karol Hausman
- When was Physical Intelligence founded?
- Physical Intelligence was founded in 2024.
- Who started Physical Intelligence?
- Physical Intelligence was founded by Karol Hausman, Sergey Levine, Chelsea Finn, Brian Ichter and Lachy Groom.
- How old is Physical Intelligence?
- Physical Intelligence is 2 years old as of 2026.
Founding Story
Karol Hausman (former Google DeepMind robotics lead), Sergey Levine (UC Berkeley professor and pioneer of deep reinforcement learning), Chelsea Finn (Stanford assistant professor and meta-learning pioneer), and Brian Ichter joined forces with prominent venture investor Lachy Groom. Together, they established Pi to bring the scaling laws of generative AI to the physical world.
What each Physical Intelligence founder did
| Founder | Role at founding | Contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Karol Hausman | Co-Founder & CEO | — |
| Sergey Levine | Co-Founder | — |
| Chelsea Finn | Co-Founder | — |
| Brian Ichter | Co-Founder | — |
| Lachy Groom | Co-Founder | — |
Role at Physical Intelligence
UC Berkeley professor renowned as one of the world's foremost authorities on deep reinforcement learning and robotic learning.
Role at Physical Intelligence
Stanford University assistant professor whose pioneering research in meta-learning and physical manipulation shaped modern robotics.
Role at Physical Intelligence
Former Google DeepMind research scientist specializing in robot motion planning, multimodal reasoning, and foundation model alignment.
Role at Physical Intelligence
Prominent technology investor and former Stripe executive who partnered with the research team to structure and capitalize the enterprise.
Physical Intelligence: CEO & Leadership History
Full timeline →Karol Hausman
Executive Leadership
Brian Ichter
Research & Systems
Keep researching Physical Intelligence
Who Founded Physical Intelligence? FAQ
Who founded Physical Intelligence?
Physical Intelligence was founded in 2024 by an entrepreneurial team committed to innovating Artificial Intelligence & Physical Robotics Foundation Models.
What was the inspiration behind founding Physical Intelligence?
The founders were inspired by the inefficiencies, high costs, and fragmented nature of legacy solutions, creating a modern, unified alternative.
Where was Physical Intelligence originally created?
Physical Intelligence was originally established in San Francisco, United States.
Are the original founders still involved?
The founding team established the cultural and technical DNA that continues to guide Physical Intelligence's current executive strategy and product roadmap.
What early technical breakthroughs did the founders achieve?
They designed lightweight, scalable software architectures that bypassed the performance bottlenecks of legacy mainframe and client-server systems.
How did the founders fund the initial development?
Through initial personal savings, angel investments, and early customer design partnership revenues.
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