I mean do the math, the economic opportunity here in terms of being able to both provide the labor that people want and being able to profit from it by developing a technology like this is this an opportunity unlike any that I think has ever existed.

It's way bigger than the steam engine, for example.

The global conversation about robots and the workforce has shifted

substantially in recent years from concern about robots taking jobs to

questions about how quickly they can fill gaps in the labor market.

One of the ventures at the forefront of this issue is Sanctuary AI.

It's a Vancouver BC-based company that has raised more than 100 million Canadian dollars to pursue

its vision for labor as a service. Sanctuary makes a five-foot seven-inch general-purpose

humanoid robot called Phoenix. It's powered by an advanced AI system called

Carbon. Welcome to GeekWire. I'm Todd Bishop and our guest this week is Jordi Rose,

sanctuary AI's co-founder and CEO.

Jordi, it's great to see you.

Glad to be here.

I'd like to talk about the larger picture of artificial intelligence, cognitive systems, and robotics with you.

For people who have not heard of sanctuary AI, what do you do and what are your aspirations for this company?

The company is mission driven and the mission is to be the first to build human-like

intelligence in general-purpose robots. A general general purpose robot is a machine designed to be able to do work of the sort you expect a person to do.

And a human-like intelligence is a software control system that runs in that robot that would allow you to interact

with the robot the same way you would interact with a person at work, speaking to them,

asking them to do things, and expecting them to be able to complete

what you've asked them to do the same way you would a person. And this has

manifested itself to this point in a robot called Phoenix that's powered by an advanced AI software

...