Tether joins $80 million funding round for Italian humanoids built for high-risk industrial jobs

Tether, the stablecoin issuer, has joined a €70 million funding round for Generative Bionics, a new spinoff from the Italian Institute of Technology. This funding, which also included AMD Ventures and Italy’s state-backed Artificial Intelligence Fund, is aimed at developing "Physical AI" humanoids designed for dangerous and physically demanding tasks in factories and logistics hubs, such as lifting and hauling. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated the investment aligns with the company's strategy to back "digital and physical infrastructure" to reduce reliance on centralized Big Tech systems. This move follows recent scrutiny of Tether's USDT stability score by S&P Global. Generative Bionics plans initial industrial deployments for early 2026 across sectors like manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, and retail.

(Source：The Block)