Persona AI Inc.
| Private | |
| ISIN | 🆔 |
| Industry | Robotics / Artificial Intelligence |
| Founded 📆 | 2024 |
| Founder 👔 | Nicolaus Radford; Jerry Pratt; Jide Akinyode |
| Headquarters 🏙️ | Houston, Texas, United States |
Area served 🗺️ | |
Key people | Nicolaus Radford (CEO); Jerry Pratt (CTO); Jide Akinyode (COO) |
| Products 📟 | Humanoid robots for heavy industry |
| Members | |
Number of employees | |
| 🌐 Website | https://personainc.ai/ |
| 📇 Address | |
| 📞 telephone | |
Persona AI Inc. is an American robotics and artificial intelligence company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company develops industrial grade humanoid robots intended for use in heavy-industry environments such as shipyards, energy infrastructure, and construction.[1][2][3]
History
Persona AI was founded in 2024 by a team of roboticists and engineers including Nicolaus Radford, Jerry Pratt, and Jide Akinyode. The company’s mission is to deploy humanoid robots in dull, dirty, dangerous, and declining jobs, in order to address skilled labor shortages in heavy industry.[2][3]
Persona AI is headquartered in Houston, Texas, and has additional operations in Pensacola, Florida.[1][4]
Partnerships
In May 2025, Persona AI announced a collaboration with HD Hyundai Robotics to develop humanoid welding robots for shipbuilding automation.[5][6][7] In September 2025, it announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) to explore the use of humanoid robots in shipyards to improve safety and productivity.[8][9][10]
Platform and technology
Persona AI’s humanoid platform is designed to operate in challenging, unstructured industrial environments. Its robots feature a modular configuration called "Personas," which can be adapted for different roles such as welding, fabrication, and inspection. The company’s technology builds on dexterous robotic hand systems originally developed for NASA.[11]
As of late 2025, Persona AI’s humanoid robots are in the development stage. The company has stated that initial pre-production units are expected to be delivered by late 2026.[11]
See also
- Humanoid robot
- Industrial robotics
- Robotics in heavy industry
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Egan, John (2025-05-18). "Houston's Persona AI helping to build robots to work in shipyards". Houston Chronicle. Hearst Newspapers. Retrieved 2025-11-06.
Houston startup Persona AI is working on humanoid robots designed for shipyards and other industrial environments.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Coldewey, Devin (2024-06-26). "Persona's founders are certain the world can use another humanoid robot". TechCrunch. Yahoo! / Verizon Media. Retrieved 2025-11-06.
Persona AI aims to commercialize humanoid robots for industrial labor, leveraging NASA-derived expertise from its founding engineers.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ackerman, Evan (2024-06-30). "Persona AI brings calm experience to the hectic humanoid industry". IEEE Spectrum. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Retrieved 2025-11-06.
Veteran roboticists Nic Radford and Jerry Pratt are building a purpose-built humanoid platform for industrial labor markets.
- ↑ "Persona AI expands in the Ion as Rice and Ion District support growth and AI innovation". Rice University News. 2025-09-02. Retrieved 2025-11-06.
Persona AI joined the Ion innovation hub in Houston to scale its research and development in humanoid robotics.
- ↑ Eilperin, Alexandra (2025-05-07). "Houston's Persona AI partners with Hyundai to develop humanoid robots for shipbuilding". Houston Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Retrieved 2025-11-06.
The agreement between Persona AI and HD Hyundai marks a significant milestone for the Houston robotics startup.
- ↑ "HD shipbuilding unit partners with Persona AI to implement humanoid welding robots". Robotics and Automation News. R&A News. 2025-07-16. Retrieved 2025-11-06.
HD Hyundai Robotics and Persona AI plan to integrate humanoid welders into Korean shipyards as part of advanced automation efforts.
- ↑ "Houston-based Persona AI partners with Hyundai to build humanoid welding robots". Fox News. Fox Corporation. 2025-05-07. Retrieved 2025-11-06.
National coverage highlighting Persona AI’s collaboration with HD Hyundai to deploy humanoid welding robots.
- ↑ "ABS, Persona AI partner to test humanoid robots in shipbuilding". WorkBoat. BNP Media. 2025-09-24. Retrieved 2025-11-06.
ABS will provide testing environments for Persona AI’s humanoid platforms to validate safety and efficiency in maritime operations.
- ↑ "Companies shake hands to develop humanoid robots for shipyards". Safety4Sea. 2025-09-26. Retrieved 2025-11-06.
ABS and Persona AI announced a collaboration aimed at improving shipyard safety through humanoid robotics.
- ↑ "US humanoid robot to perform welding in Korea's shipbuilding yards". Interesting Engineering. Interesting Engineering Media. 2025-07-20. Retrieved 2025-11-06.
The company’s humanoid welders will assist South Korean shipbuilders as part of a global industrial automation initiative.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Smith, James (2025-05-17). "Persona AI raises $27M to develop humanoid robots for shipyards". The Robot Report. WTWH Media LLC. Retrieved 2025-11-06.
The Houston-based company’s funding will accelerate work on its humanoid platform targeting shipbuilding and construction tasks.
External links
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