Safeworld raises $12M to certify AI robot safety

Safeworld, founded by Carnegie Mellon AI safety researcher Ding Zhao alongside Kyle Wong and Simo Rachidi, has emerged from stealth with over $12 million in seed funding led by Shine Capital and a16z Speedrun. The startup evaluates generative AI-powered robots by running thousands of simulated scenarios featuring realistic human models in digital replicas of real environments like factories. The goal is to catch dangerous edge cases before robots are deployed at scale, covering unpredictable human behaviors such as tripping, crouching, or carrying objects. Gritt Robotics is among its early partners.