Tether took part in a €70 million funding round led by CDP Venture Capital, the investment arm of Italian state-owned bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, to back Generative Bionics, an Italian firm creating humanoid robots that move and learn like humans using advanced machine learning systems.

What the investment covers

The $81 million will speed up work on "Physical AI": robots blending sensors, machine learning, and human-inspired designs. The goal is for them to handle jobs in factories, hospitals, or even help with elder care at home.

Generative Bionics: the Italian project

Based in Italy, the startup aims to build "made-in-Italy" humanoids to rival efforts from Tesla (Optimus) or Boston Dynamics. Its European angle focuses on data privacy and ethical standards.

Why Tether is stepping into robotics

With reserves over $100 billion, Tether is branching out from crypto. It has already backed AI firms and bitcoin mining. CEO Paolo Ardoino sees stablecoins like USDT pairing with robotics for future uses, such as paying robots or securely sharing training data.

Market reaction

The news landed well: USDT's market cap stays above $120 billion, and some European robotics stocks edged up. Analysts say Tether is bridging crypto funds with traditional tech.

Global context

2025 is a record year for humanoid robots, with over $2 billion invested worldwide. Labor shortages and big leaps in language models are fueling the boom.

What could come next

If Generative Bionics delivers, Tether stands to gain from stock growth or by weaving USDT into robots (like payments or smart contracts between machines). Overall, it shows how crypto profits are driving the next tech wave.