Aigen trains solar farm robots on AI-generated weeds to speed up crop learning

Redmond-based startup Aigen is using synthetic data, called Alchemy, to teach its solar-powered Element robots to pull weeds. Training on a new crop now takes about a week instead of three to four years, and the $50,000–$70,000 robots are nearly sold out for the 2027 season.

• Training robots on a new crop dropped from 3–4 years to about a week
• Element robots with a 400W solar panel cost $50,000–$70,000, sold in packs of five
• More than 100 robots built, with over 15,000 field hours logged
• About $26M raised in total; the company has roughly 15 employees