Physical AI – robotics, autonomous vehicles, aerospace, industrial automation, sensors, defense tech, and the like – is having a moment. In the first half of this year, global venture funding in physical AI totaled more than $47 billion, according to Crunchbase. To put that into perspective, that is $5B more than what investors spent in 2022 to 2024 combined. And it’s not just early-stage companies getting the attention – IPOs for SpaceX and Cerebras prove it’s possible to build a lasting business in hard tech.
The current communications environment for these sectors is one every PR professional has faced: crowded.
But this moment is about more than just fighting for headlines. Everything is at an extreme end of the spectrum. Competition for high-quality AI talent is brutal; public scrutiny of these technologies is rampant; and trust in company valuations and revenue claims is low, to say the least. It’s a level of skepticism that the SaaS wave never experienced. And unlike SaaS, where a product can go from idea to market in months, physical AI has a much longer runway: the distance between an early prototype and full-scale deployment is often measured in years, which means a company has to tell its story long before the product has any ROI to tout.
The biggest mistake I’ve seen physical AI companies make is assuming they’re not ready to communicate to the market. Even if you are early stage, there are PR levers you can pull to drive business outcomes. We’ve seen this firsthand having worked with companies across physical AI for years – from warehouse automation and autonomous delivery fleets, to aerospace and defense tech, to AI infrastructure and grid-scale energy storage, and the top VCs behind these investments.
The challenges and opportunities facing physical AI startups right now are ripe for PR to play a big role. Especially in today’s environment where trust in AI (and tech generally) is very fraught, it is critical to build and maintain trust with your audiences.
If you’re running the communications program for a company in physical AI, here are some things you should be thinking about.
Your story should be part of the compensation package
For companies with a hardware product, specialized talent can often be the bottleneck to growth. Plenty of software developers out there, but the expertise required in physical AI is niche. Try searching LinkedIn for “Vibration and Acoustics Test Engineer” (someone who designs and conducts tests to measure structural shaking and noise levels when things move through space) or “Mechatronics Technician” (someone with combined mechanical, electronic, and computer skills who helps maintain and repair smart factory equipment). This is where having a clear story about what your company stands for can tip the scales. A candidate deciding between Anthropic and an early-stage robotics company isn’t just comparing equity offers; they’re weighing which company’s mission could drive positive world impact, whose culture aligns with their values, and whose work they’d actually want to talk about.
Treat your content strategy as a hiring strategy. Founder- and engineer-led content gives technical candidates something real to evaluate, and signals that the team is proud of what they are building. Showcase a technical breakdown, a quick lab walkthrough, a lesson learned from a failed prototype, and remember tone matters just as much as substance. For instance, a generic, corporate voice can feel stiff and stringent, while a looser, more candid tone feels more relatable (and maybe even fun!).
Consider having these stories come directly from engineers under their own names. It will carry more weight with the peers you’re trying to recruit. Platform choice matters too: LinkedIn and X for technical discourse, YouTube for deeper walkthroughs.
Make the tech tangible
Companies can’t wait around in stealth mode until they have an actual product to unveil or demo. They need to fundraise and hire, and that’s hard to do if no one knows who you are. At the same time, the feedback we always get from reporters when pitching is “do you have any visuals you can share so our readers can understand exactly what you’re building?”
It’s a reasonable question. Trying to describe the inner workings of autonomous construction equipment will never land like video footage. Imagery or video footage of a prototype demo, product renderings or animations, or even simulation footage can go a long way with capturing reporter attention.
Invest in visual storytelling and leverage those assets, not only for product announcements and corporate milestones, but as evergreen content for both owned and paid channels.
Credibility > hype
In a race to be first to market, many founders will lead with the boldest possible vision for what their technology will be in ten or twenty years. Sure, plans to build data centers on the moon will capture eyeballs. But most people will return to reading about the actual problems of today, like skilled labor shortages, chip backlogs, compute constraints, and energy prices.
It’s okay to paint a picture of where your company is headed because that is what makes the mission compelling in the first place. But keep it grounded and keep it present. Lead with the problem and how you’re working toward solving it right now – this year’s deployment, your latest safety data, a customer’s results, or financial milestones. The brands that build the most trust are the ones that use today’s results as proof points that their future vision is achievable.
The physical AI companies pulling ahead of the pack right now aren’t necessarily the highest-funded or the most technically advanced, though of course they are ones to keep an eye on. It’s the startups getting their story out early and authentically, enabling them to win over talent, earn customer trust, and educate audiences on the broader categories they operate in.
And remember – while every company has a unique set of priority audiences they’re after, every company has one in common: AI search engines. The same clear, consistent, fact-driven storytelling that wins over a candidate or a reporter is exactly what the ChatGPTs of the world pull from when someone asks, “who are the top players in robotics?”
By treating comms as core to the business plan instead of something to bolt on once you’ve reached a certain size, you’ll drive real measurable outcomes sooner than you think.
If you’re looking for a comms partner to establish trust for your brand, work with us.
