Menlo

What Is Menlo

Menlo Research builds robots that put AI to work in the physical world. Our two main products are:

  • Asimov, the most developer-friendly humanoid
  • Jan, the open-source AI agent that runs as its brain

Our Story

We build what we need, one part at a time.

We set out to build a brain for robots. In January 2024 we launched Jan, which has since become one of the most-used open-source AI projects around.

But a brain can't do much without a body, so we bought a humanoid to run it on. The first time we deployed a walking policy, the robot lost control and slammed its leg into the ground, shattering a small metal part in its ankle. Our distributor couldn't fix it, so the whole company stood still for two months while we waited on that one part. As we talked to other labs, we realised we weren't alone, since many of them had watched their research grind to a halt every time a robot went in for repair. That's when it clicked for us: a robot you can't fix yourself will always hold you back.

So we built our own, starting with a set of legs, then a torso, then a whole body, and open-sourcing the designs along the way. Because our team couldn't all share one robot, we also built a simulator and the tools to run it from anywhere, and then solved sim2real. What came out the other side is Asimov, the robot we wish we'd had. We officially launched it in April 2026, less than a year after first concept, and now ship it to customers worldwide.

Who We Are

We're a team from computing, engineering, and plenty else, working across Singapore, Vietnam, and the US. We built Jan in the open, and we build Asimov the same way: in public, with a community building alongside us.

Ishneet and Ariel walking Asimov along Marina Bay Sands

(And yes, we took the first humanoid ever onto the Singapore MRT, hailed it a cab, and walked it down to Marina Bay Sands!)

What We're Building

What Menlo is building and why.

On this page

Our StoryWho We AreAs Featured In