Brain company vs. hardware company

The registry classifies companies by what they primarily build: hardware (the robot itself), brain (the AI foundation models, controllers, and software that animate robots), or both. Hardware-only examples: Boston Dynamics historically, Geely Farizon. Brain-only examples: Google DeepMind, Physical Intelligence. Both examples: Figure AI, Tesla, Rivian's Mind Robotics, all of which build both their own hardware and their own AI stack.

The split matters because the physical-AI value chain is increasingly two distinct layers, and the strategic question of whether a company controls its own brain or licenses one (Apptronik using Google DeepMind's Gemini Robotics, Boston Dynamics' new Atlas using the same) is a meaningful axis for evaluating any robotics company.