Qualcomm’s partnership with Neura Robotics is just the beginning

German robotics startup Neura Robotics has inked a partnership with semiconductor giant Qualcomm to build the next generation of robots and physical AI. The deal is the latest coupling in the emerging physical AI industry between robotics startups and larger tech hardware and software companies.

While no specific products were mentioned in the Monday announcements, the companies will work together to build the “brain and nervous system” of robots in a quest to advance the deployment of humanoid and general-purpose robots in the real world in both domestic and industrial settings.

More specifically, Neura will use Qualcomm’s Dragonwing Robotics IQ10 processors as reference designs in its robots. This IQ10 series was announced at CES earlier this year, and these chips are designed to work with autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and humanoids.

Neura also plans to use its Neuraverse robotic simulation and training platform, which was released in June 2025, to test and fine-tune the robots running on Qualcomm’s IQ10 processors.

“This collaboration marks a major step toward making physical AI real: open, scalable, and trusted,” David Reger, CEO and founder of Neura Robotics, said in a press release. “By bringing together our cognitive robotics platforms and the Neuraverse ecosystem with Qualcomm Technologies’ leadership in edge AI and connectivity, we’re aiming to accelerate a future where cognitive robots operate safely alongside humans across industries and throughout everyday life.”

This deal makes a lot of sense for both sides. And it’s a formula that will likely become a popular strategy for robotics companies trying to bring their products into the real world. For instance, Boston Dynamics announced a strategic partnership with Google DeepMind in January to speed up the development of the robotic company’s Atlas humanoid robot by using Google’s AI foundational models.

While Boston Dynamics and Neura’s respective partnerships deal with different technologies — AI models versus chips — the same conclusion can be drawn. Instead of these two companies just being customers of tech vendors, partnering allows for these robotic companies to better use and embed these technologies.

A robotic company that has technical prowess in software will have a much easier — and likely cheaper — path to market and scale through partnering with hardware companies that have already figured out tough technical challenges like building robotics hands with dexterity, for example.

In Neura’s case, the company gets to build and test robots designed for the chips they are running on while Qualcomm gets an intimate look at how robotic companies can use its processors.

As more AI companies like Nvidia look to physical AI as the next major market for their technology, they are going to want a seat at the table of how their tech is being used. The upshot: expect more partnerships.

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Senior Reporter, Venture

Becca is a senior writer at TechCrunch that covers venture capital trends and startups. She previously covered the same beat for Forbes and the Venture Capital Journal.

You can contact or verify outreach from Becca by emailing rebecca.szkutak@techcrunch.com.

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