OpenMind is building OM1, a new operating system for humanoid robots. The Silicon Valley startup calls it the “Android for robotics” – software that’s open and hardware agnostic.
OpenMind founder Jan Liphardt, a Stanford professor, says robots have done repetitive tasks for decades. Now, with humanoids entering homes, they need an OS that thinks more like humans.
The company also launched a new protocol called FABRIC. It lets robots verify each other’s identities and share info instantly. That means robots can learn from one another faster, like swapping language skills without human input. 
Liphardt explained the idea behind robot collaboration:
“Humans take it for granted that they can interact with any other human on Earth,” Liphardt said. “Humans have built a lot of infrastructure around us that allows us to trust other people, call them, text them and interact and coordinate and do things together. Machines, of course, are going to be no different.”
OpenMind started in 2024 and plans to ship 10 OM1-powered robot dogs by September. Liphardt is betting on rapid real-world testing and iteration after launch.
“We full well expect all the humans that will be hosting these quadrupeds, they’ll come back with a long list of things they didn’t like or they want, and then it’s up to us to very, very quickly iterate and improve the machines,” he said.
The startup just closed $20 million led by Pantera Capital, with Ribbit, Coinbase Ventures, and others joining.
Now it’s racing to get robots into homes to collect feedback and optimize for real use cases.
“The most important thing for us is to get robots out there and to get feedback,” Liphardt said. “Our goal as a company is to do as many of these tests as we can, so that we can very rapidly identify the most interesting opportunities where the capabilities of the robots today are optimally matched against what humans are looking for.”
OpenMind targets making robot-human collaboration as seamless as people interacting online — starting with smart, connected robot dogs running OM1.
