The Manufacturing Language Model uses data from live production environments to lower the barriers to robot adoption. Source: Launchpad Build AI
Launchpad Build AI today announced a series of milestones as it grows and develops artificial intelligence for assembly automation. The company has launched its Manufacturing Language Model, established U.S. headquarters in California, rebranded, and appointed senior technical leaders.
“Physical AI isn’t just the future; it exists in the here and now,” stated Jon Quick, CEO of Launchpad Build AI. “What better place to be building it than in El Segundo surrounded by first-class entrepreneurs, top-tier talent, and established deep tech and defense tech companies. This is an important step forward in our journey alongside the launch of our Manufacturing Language Model and rebrand as Launchpad Build AI.”
Founded in 2020 as Launchpad, the company has developed AI systems to accelerate the design and delivery of robotics and automation by up to 50%. It said its technology is designed to address labor shortages while improving speed, flexibility, and cost efficiency. The Edinburgh, U.K.-based company has deployments across the U.S. and Europe.
Launchpad Build AI said its latest developments build on its momentum since raising $11 million in Series A funding last year. The company’s backers included Lavrock Ventures, Squadra Ventures, Lockheed Martin Ventures, Scottish National Investment Bank, PXN Group, CX2, and Ericsson Ventures.
Manufacturing Language Model draws from production data
Launchpad Build AI asserted that its Manufacturing Language Model (MLM™) is purpose-built for industrial automation design and that it is the first of its kind.
“The MLM democratizes the development of automation,” said the company. “Now factories of any size can enjoy the benefits of automation simply from a photo, video, or CAD input. Trained on intelligence from live production environments, it lowers the barrier to robotics adoption, particularly for high-mix, low-volume manufacturers that make up the majority of the sector.”
Rather than attempt to be a generalist model, MLM focuses on bringing information packets to where they’re needed for more deployable and robust robotic tasks, Quick told The Robot Report.
“Why would I go create everything from scratch? If you were to go scrape the Internet, I have information on a million different screwdrivers and a million different grippers and a million different things,” he said. “I’ve got tolerances that are tested. I’ve got ideal conditions. I’ve got all this information that I should be grabbing that should help inform what I’m doing.”
“The MLM is saying, ‘How do I take all of this information that’s sitting there?’ and instead of being a generalist model that tries to do all things and pull things together, it’s ‘How do I put it together in a package which has the greatest impact?'” added Quick.
Launchpad already has manufacturing and defense customers, and its gantry system is designed to handle a large amount of assembly tasks.
“Manufacturing is subsets of things like welding or kitting,” Quick said. “We’re building capabilities that customers can deploy to get to the 99.8% effective rate. Our unique ability is that you can run a warehouse with 50 digitals getting data while also doing simulations and customer deployments.”
Digitool is a self-programming system that uses real-time robotic vision to handle part and process variation. Source: Launchpad Build AI
Rebranded Launchpad Build AI appoints executives
The company rebranded itself to Launchpad Build AI to reflect its focus on applying AI to transform manufacturing, making systems faster to design, more flexible to deploy, and more resilient in operation.
Ken Moynihan has joined Launchpad as chief technology officer, bringing over two decades of experience across computer vision, robotics and AI. He previously held senior R&D and leadership roles at TOMRA, a global leader in AI-driven sorting systems.
Launchpad Build AI said Moynihan’s expertise in deploying vision-based systems in real-world environments will support its next stage of technical scale.
Yannis Georgas has joined as head of MLM, responsible for the development and deployment of Launchpad’s Manufacturing Language Model. Previously at Capgemini Invent, he led industrial data and AI initiatives, delivering agentic AI, large language models (LLMs), and digital twins for global manufacturing and defense clients.
Editor’s note: At the 2026 Robotics Summit & Expo on May 27 and 28 in Boston, there will be sessions on embodied and physical AI. Registration is now open.
U.S. headquarters chosen for proximity to key industries
Launchpad Build AI has established its U.S. headquarters at 1330 E Franklin Avenue, El Segundo, Calif. It picked a location within one of the most concentrated aerospace, defense, and advanced manufacturing corridors in the country.
“We’re still early in the adoption cycle,” noted Quick. “In the U.S., 95% of the 64,000 factories are SMEs [small and midsize enterprises], and in the U.K., it’s more like 98%.”
“Big companies have the money to afford expertise and can amortize across units,” he noted. “But for high-mix, low-volume production, penetration is less than 3%. We’re using AI to solve the front end of diagnostics, so you don’t need an expert or upfront costs.”
“El Segundo’s interdisciplinary hard tech community is truly unique, and Launchpad Build AI is exactly the kind of innovative, technology-driven company our city attracts and nurtures,” stated Chris Pimentel, mayor of El Segundo. “They are not only building new solutions in AI and advanced manufacturing; they are building networks of partnerships across El Segundo.”
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