A German developer of industrial robots based on artificial intelligence robots has raised $500 million at a valuation of $8.5 billion, writes the New York Times. The financing round was led by SoftBank Holdings with participation from Nvidia. According to the startup's founder, Zhaopeng Chen, the funds will be used to expand business in the United States and increase production in Germany before a possible initial public offering. This year the company is expected to double up to 600 million euros.