Sunday Unveils Memo: A Revolution in Home Robotics for Everyday Chores
Sunday, an innovative robotics startup founded by veteran robotics researchers from Stanford, has officially launched Memo, a groundbreaking household robot designed to tackle everyday domestic tasks. Emphasizing safety and stability, Memo is geared towards enhancing home life by freeing up valuable time for families.
The startup, founded by Tony Zhao, CEO, and Cheng Chi, CTO, kicked off its journey in a garage, devoting countless hours to create Memo using 3D printing technology. “We designed Memo to help people reclaim their time for what matters most, with family safety as a top priority,” Zhao noted, marking this development as a significant milestone in home robotics.
Unlike the trend of humanoid robots, Memo features a rolling platform and lacks legs, which simplifies balancing challenges. Its distinct design showcases a chunky form with smooth white limbs, a cartoonish face, and a plastic cap, reminiscent of a giant Roomba.
Despite its unique appearance, Memo boasts impressive agility and can efficiently handle tasks like washing dishes, loading the dishwasher, folding clothes, brewing espresso, and aiding in meal preparation. The design of Memo draws on human learning principles, with the AI needing extensive training to master household interactions.
To enhance its functionality, Sunday introduced the Skill Capture Glove, a novel tool that records human movements while cleaning and organizing at home. This groundbreaking approach has generated a comprehensive dataset of around 10 million household routines from more than 500 homes. This rich data diversity equips Memo to adapt effectively to various environments, such as kitchens and living rooms.
Camilla Guo, Sunday’s head of product, emphasized the innovation’s potential: “Tony’s ALOHA and Cheng’s UMI research demonstrated that with adequate data, we can perform dexterous manipulation tasks at a low cost.” ALOHA focuses on developing affordable robotics platforms using imitation learning, while UMI supports teaching robots through human demonstrations, setting the foundation for the Skill Capture Gloves.
Sunday has successfully raised $35 million in funding, with support from notable investors like Benchmark and Conviction. Eric Vishria, a general partner at Benchmark, conveyed the company’s vision: “The future of AI robotics is not in flashy performances, but in functioning effectively in real-world scenarios. We are still in need of substantial real-world training data.”
Starting November 19, Sunday will accept applications for its Founding Family Beta program, aimed at placing Memo in select households. By late 2026, the company plans to select 50 early adopters to test the robot’s capabilities in a home setting. “While many are building on our research, our ambition is broader—a vision to place a robot in every home,” Zhao concluded.
