On June 16, 2026, Paris-based full-stack robotics startup Genesis AI unveiled Eno, its first general-purpose robot that deliberately breaks from the dominant humanoid form factor. Instead of a bipedal body with a head and face, Eno uses a wheeled base with a foldable, three-section torso — earning it the nickname "foldable robot."
Human in Function, Not in Form
Genesis AI's design philosophy is clear: "human in function, not in form." The company argues that for most industrial, logistics, and laboratory environments — where floors are flat and tasks are at varying heights — a wheeled base with an adjustable torso is more practical than complex bipedal locomotion.
Eno's foldable torso can extend up to 2.2 meters in height and tilt forward or backward to expand the robot's operational workspace. When not in use, it folds down to a compact form, reducing its physical presence in human environments.
The Hands: Where the Real Human Likeness Lives
While Eno has no head or face, its hands are remarkably human-like. The robot features Genesis AI's proprietary dexterous hand with 22 active degrees of freedom, with each finger having different lengths — closely mirroring human hand anatomy. The hands are back-drivable for safe human-robot interaction and integrate cameras and tactile sensors.
In demos shown to Forbes, Eno performed bimanual cable harnessing and electrical taping — tasks involving soft, sticky materials that change state with each interaction. It also demonstrated lab automation: liquid transfer, test tube capping, and centrifuge loading.
Powered by GENE: An Integrated AI Brain
Eno is designed alongside Genesis AI's robotics-native AI model, GENE (latest version GENE-26.5, released in May 2026). The company emphasizes that body and brain are optimized as a single integrated system — not a pre-built shell with an AI bolted on. Eno operates as a "physical agent" capable of managing entire workflows, understanding context, retaining memory, reasoning under changing conditions, and dynamically planning multi-step tasks with millimeter-level precision.
Strategic Partnership with LG CNS
Simultaneously, Genesis AI announced a strategic partnership with LG CNS, LG Group's AI transformation arm. The collaboration will begin with identifying priority deployment scenarios across LG's US facilities and LG CNS's industrial client network, followed by pilots and potential global rollout.
Timetable and Commercialization
Genesis AI was founded in late 2024 by CMU robotics PhD Zhou Xian and former Mistral AI researcher Theophile Gervet. The company raised $105 million in seed funding in July 2025 from investors including former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Xavier Niel, and Bpifrance. Eno is slated for production and targeted customer deployment by late 2026, initially serving manufacturing, logistics, and laboratory clients before expanding to hospitality, healthcare, and eventually consumer households.
While Eno's differentiated approach challenges the prevailing humanoid orthodoxy in the robotics industry, the robot remains an early prototype. Its real-world performance, reliability, cost efficiency, and ROI will be tested in customer deployments starting later this year.
