Nebius launches 2026 physical AI awards with $150k compute credit prizes

Nebius, in partnership with NVIDIA, has launched the 2026 Physical AI Awards, offering five $150,000 compute credit prizes across five categories. The competition, open for applications until October 25, 2026, aims to recognize startups with a physical AI product, meaningful traction, and a clear plan to scale. Finalists and winners will be announced in mid-November 2026. The awards are designed for companies with a demonstrable product and active use or testing, with no entry fees or sponsored categories. Nebius emphasizes transparency by publishing GPU-hour rates, allowing winners to convert the prize into concrete compute resources. The judging panel, weighted toward operators, includes industry leaders from companies like Foxglove, Voxel51, and Encord, as well as past winners like RoboForce and Gather AI. The 2025 edition of the program attracted 254 applications and awarded $1.5 million in compute credits, with several winners going on to secure significant funding and scale their operations.