Are world models the unlock for Physical AI? | Episode 19

This Week In Startups is made possible by:PaypalToday’s show:*When we think of “Physical AI,” most of us conjure images of humanoid robots and self-driving cars. But there’s a lot more to the category than just breakdancing Chinese bots and Waymos, from excavators autonomously digging tomorrows worksites, to a robot the size of four pizza boxes deploying to the ISS.Guest host Alex Wilhelm sits down with three founders in the trenches of the Physical AI Space:Boris Sofman of Bedrock Robotics, which builds autonomous construction equipmentJeff Hawke of Odyssey, a frontier AI lab specializing in world models for robotics and video gamesEthan Barajas of Icarus Robotics, designers of the free-flying Joy robot that will join the ISS crew in 2027Guests:Boris Sofman on X: https://x.com/bsofmanBedrock Robotics: https://bedrockrobotics.com/Jeff Hawke on X: https://x.com/jeffrey_hawkeOdyssey: https://odyssey.ml/Ethan Barajas on X: https://x.com/ethanbarajas11Icarus Robotics: https://www.icarusrobotics.com/Relevant LinksBedrock Excavators Remove 65,000 Cubic Yards of Dirt: https://www.enr.com/articles/61982-bedrock-robotics-excavators-remove-65-000-cubic-yards-of-dirt-on-southwest-projectOdyssey $310M Series B article: https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/17/world-model-maker-odyssey-nabs-1-45b-valuation-backed-by-amazon-and-other-big-names/Icarus “Joyride” Mission announcement: https://thedebrief.org/icarus-is-building-the-robotic-labor-force-for-space-voyager-technologies-is-sending-a-next-generation-zero-gravity-robot-on-a-joyride-to-space/PROWL: Prioritized Regret-Driven Optimization for World Model Learning: https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.18803NVIDIA Cosmos 3 report: https://research.nvidia.com/labs/cosmos-lab/cosmos3/technical-report.pdfISS Columbus Laboratory Module: https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/columbus-laboratory-module/NASA’s Astrobee flying robot: https://www.nasa.gov/astrobee/Voyager Technologies: https://www.voyagerspace.com/Vast Space: https://www.vastspace.com/Blue Origin’s New Glenn: https://www.blueorigin.com/new-glenn“Red Mars” by Kim Stanley Robinson: https://www.amazon.com/Red-Mars-Stanley-Robinson/dp/0553560735“Rendezvous with Rama” by Arthur C. Clarke: https://www.amazon.com/Rendezvous-Rama-Arthur-Clarke/dp/0553287893Theo Von “This Past Weekend” podcast: https://www.theovon.com/podcastAnthropic statement on Fable/Mythos suspension: https://www.anthropic.com/news/fable-mythos-accessTimestamps:0:00 The Year of Physical AI1:28 Why everyone's bullish on world models7:03 Physical AI is harder, but probably bigger9:08 How to think about world models16:00 When data becomes "adversarial"25:00 How Bedrock powers autonomous excavators30:48 Why teleoperation gets a bad rap39:10 Meet Joy the space robot41:33 Laser comms coming to next-gen stations46:29 Why everyone hates data centers57:33 When does Claude Fable come back?Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisCheck out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.com