Archetype AI is a physical AI company pioneering a new form of technology that is capable of perceiving, understanding, and reasoning about the world. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Archetype AI co-founder, CEO, and CTO Dr. Ivan Poupyrev to learn more about the company.
Dr. Ivan Poupyrev’s Background
What is Dr. Ivan Poupyrev’s background? Dr. Poupyrev said:
“I serve as the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of physical AI company Archetype AI. I have over 20 years of experience in transforming research and development into groundbreaking products. Before co-founding Archetype, I was at Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects division, where I led the development of numerous cutting-edge technologies deployed in millions of products. I’ve also worked as a Principal Research Scientist for Walt Disney Imagineering Research Division and Sony Corporate Research Labs in Tokyo. Additionally, I contributed to the innovation efforts of renowned brands such as
Adidas, Levi’s, Samsonite, and YSL.”
“My academic journey includes earning an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science from Moscow Airspace University, followed by a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Hiroshima University.”
Formation Of Archetype AI
How did the idea for the company come together? Dr. Poupyrev shared:
“The idea for Archetype was born out of a culmination of experiences and insights gained during my tenure as a computer scientist at Google’s ATAP division. Among other efforts, I spearheaded a team on Project Soli that invented, developed, and integrated a miniature radar chip into wearable devices for gesture recognition. While working on Soli, my team and I pioneered using deep neural networks to analyze complex multidimensional radar sensor data effectively and in real-time. Around this time, we started to see the emergence of large language models (LLMs), which sparked an idea: we could leverage these models to dramatically expand our analysis techniques to all kinds of sensor data, transforming it into a potent tool for exploring and monitoring vast amounts of real-world data. In other words, we could use the power of AI to better understand the physical world around us through sensor data. Recognizing the potential beyond Google’s confines, I, along with Brandon Barbello, Leonardo Giusti, Jaime Lien, and Nicholas Gillian, embarked on founding Archetype in April last year.”
Favorite Memory
What has been Dr. Poupyrev’s favorite memory working for the company so far? Dr. Poupyrev reflected:
“One of the most meaningful moments for me was speaking at TEDAI last year. It was surreal to be surrounded by so many brilliant thinkers and creators, all exploring the future of AI. What made it especially powerful was seeing our company’s demo video of our Newton foundation model played on the main stage – a proud moment not just for me, but for our entire team. Watching our vision come to life on the big screen, alongside global innovators and leaders in the space, reminded me how far we’ve come since launch.”
The panel, “Embodied Agents: The Robots are Coming,” was a chance to share our core belief: AI shouldn’t be confined to screens or language. It needs to understand and engage with the physical world
around us. I spoke about a future where machines can perceive and learn from their physical environment, discover patterns, make decisions, and act meaningfully without constant human input. It brought me back to why we started this company: to build technology that senses, reasons, and ultimately helps us shape a better, more intelligent physical world.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Dr. Poupyrev explained:
“The core product of Archetype AI is Newton, a first-of-its-kind physical AI foundational model, a pioneering solution capable of perceiving, understanding, and reasoning about the world around it in
real-time. It achieves this by learning about the physical world directly from sensor data – all kinds of sensor data. Not just cameras and microphones, but temperature sensors, inertial sensors, radar, LIDAR, infrared, pressure sensors, chemical and environmental sensors, and more. We are surrounded by sensors that capture rich spatial, temporal, and material properties of the world. By integrating this data
with natural language processing, Newton unlocks invaluable insights about the physical environment that were previously inaccessible. And unlike traditional AI solutions that rely on one-off approaches, Newton
offers a universal solution that is scalable, reducing both time and cost to market.”
Challenges Faced
What challenges have Dr. Poupyrev and the team face in building the company? Dr. Poupyrev acknowledged:
“Physical AI is a brand new category, and while that’s exciting, this novelty also poses challenges. At times, people can struggle to grasp the full scope of what Archetype AIoffers. Whereas a narrower, vertical solution is straightforward to explain, our solutions can be adapted for nearly any use case, which requires finding partners who are more creative and forward-thinking. Over time, we expect these pioneering customers and partners will help set the stage for others to follow.”
Evolution Of Archetype AI’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Dr. Poupyrev noted:
“When we introduced Archetype AI, our vision was to enable machines to understand and reason about the physical world – an area traditional AI had largely overlooked. That vision became real with Newton, our foundation model built to interpret raw, real-time sensor data. It was the first of its kind and laid the groundwork for a new category we call physical AI.
Since then, we’ve evolved from foundational intelligence to practical application. With the launch of Lenses, we’ve made Newton’s core capabilities accessible and adaptable. Lenses are purpose-built
applications that solve specific real-world problems – turning raw data into actionable insights. With launch partners like Kajima, the City of Bellevue, and Khasm Labs, we’re already seeing the impact of
Lenses across industries from reducing construction delays to improving traffic safety.”
“In short, we’ve moved from pioneering a new form of AI to delivering real-world value – while staying true to our mission to help humans better understand the physical world.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Dr. Poupyrev cited:
“Our most significant milestone to date has been the introduction of Newton, our first-of-its-kind foundation model that understands the physical world. Newton marks the beginning of our mission to harness the potential of AI to address real-world challenges, empowering individuals and organizations with insights into their physical environments. By integrating multimodal temporal data from diverse sensors with natural language processing capabilities, Newton enables real-time perception, understanding, and reasoning about the world – ushering in a new era of transformative AI.”
“In the fall of 2024, we published research demonstrating that Newton can learn the laws of physics directly from sensor data – without being explicitly programmed with any prior knowledge of concepts like
gravity or energy. Instead, it observes raw measurements from the world around it, such as motion or temperature and learns how to predict outcomes across domains like mechanics, thermodynamics, and electromagnetics. The research offered a glimpse into what’s possible when AI learns from the world itself.”
“Most recently, Newton was nominated for a SXSW Innovation Award in the Artificial Intelligence category. At the conference, my co-founder and our Head of Design, Leonardo Giusti, shared our vision of AI no just as a tool, but as a design material – something we can use to shape and redefine the physical world.”
“That moment encapsulated how we see the future: a world where intelligence is embedded in the environment, helping us make better decisions in real time.”
Customer Success Stories
When asking Dr. Poupyrev about customer success stories, he highlighted:
““One of the most compelling examples is Volkswagen’s innovative use of our technology to enhance customer experience and safety. They’ve been conducting early tests of Archetype AI’s model, exploring scenarios well beyond autonomous driving. One experiment focuses on situational awareness, enabling the vehicle to anticipate and respond to human needs. By analyzing movement patterns, what you’re carrying, and who you’re with, Archetype AI’s technology could dynamically determine whether to automatically open the trunk for your bags and the passenger doors for your family, in addition to the driver-side door for you. This application reflects our goal of utilizing AI to derive human-centric insights from sensor data.”
“Building on Newton’s capabilities, we recently launched Lenses – a powerful interface that allows businesses to transform real-time, raw sensor data into customized, actionable insights. Lenses tap into Newton’s reasoning engine and apply its intelligence to specific problems or contexts, enabling companies to unlock real-time understanding from their physical environments.”
“We’ve already seen strong traction and success across a range of industries:
— Kajima is using Lenses to streamline construction project management and reduce delays.
— The City of Bellevue is improving pedestrian safety through real-time traffic monitoring and response.
These collaborations are a testament to how Newton – through Lenses – can be seamlessly adapted to meet the unique needs of each customer and drive real-world impact.”
Funding
When asking Dr. Poupyrev about the company’s funding details, he revealed:
“Our funding round was announced on April 5th. We successfully secured a $13 million seed funding round, with Venrock leading the investment. Other notable participants include the Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund, Hitachi Ventures, Buckley Ventures, Plug and Play Ventures, as well as several angel investors.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Dr. Poupyrev assessed:
“At Archetype AI, we aim to serve what experts refer to as the ‘trillion sensor economy.’ Any entity with sensor data, regardless of its specific application, is a company we aim to serve. In practice, this can
span advertising, automotive, healthcare, construction, and beyond. Early partnerships with companies like Volkswagen, where we conducted experiments using sensor data to predict a driver’s return, and with experts like Stefano Bini, a professor at UC San Francisco’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, who assisted in healthcare scenarios such as monitoring recovery after knee replacement surgery, among other collaborations, demonstrate our potential reach across various sectors.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Dr. Poupyrev affirmed:
“At Archetype AI, our differentiation lies in the unique focus of our technology. While most advancements in generative AI have concentrated on text and image analysis, they have largely ignored the complexities
of the physical world. We bridge this gap with our first-of-its-kind foundation model, Newton. This model is designed to understand and decode the hidden patterns of the physical world – patterns that are too intricate or dynamic for human perception – and is designed to be flexible enough to be deployed in the actual physical world operational environments.”
“Additionally, the breadth of our technology and focus on addressing a broader market are key to making us unique. Unlike competitors who often cater to specific use cases, our approach encompasses a much wider range of applications, making sensor data useful and functional for virtually anyone. This breadth allows Archetype’s models to learn from a diverse array of examples, providing a more powerful understanding of the physical world compared to narrower models. By offering a universal foundation model designed to scale across any sensor data, we reduce the need for costly and slow bespoke
solutions, streamlining time to market and minimizing expenses.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future company goals? Dr. Poupyrev concluded:
“One of our primary goals this year is to scale access to Newton through the rollout of Lenses – a new class of AI applications that help organizations interpret the physical world in real time. We’re expanding our team and platform to support more customers across industries, enabling them to build and own custom Lenses that transform live sensor data into actionable insight. Early deployments have shown just how powerful this can be and is a key step toward our broader mission: to become the interpretation layer for the physical world and help people see what was previously invisible.”
