RIOS Intelligent Machines was a Menlo Park robotics company building AI-powered dexterous robots for factories, warehouses, and supply chains. Founded in 2018 by former Xerox PARC engineers, RIOS pioneered haptic intelligence and tactile sensing for industrial robots, deploying systems across e-commerce, manufacturing, food processing, and wood products before archiving the company in 2026.
Clinton Smith is Co-Founder and CEO of RIOS Intelligent Machines, a Menlo Park-based robotics and AI company deploying dexterous robots in factories across industries like wood products, food, and beverage distribution. A Princeton-trained electrical engineer with a Ph.D. on laser spectrometers for wireless trace-gas sensing, he spent years at Xerox PARC and Physical Sciences Inc. before co-founding RIOS in 2018 with fellow PARC engineers. Under his leadership, RIOS has raised $37.5M total including a $13M Series B in March 2024 co-led by Yamaha Motor Corp. and IAG Capital Partners, pioneering a Robots-as-a-Service model that shifts CapEx burden away from manufacturers and promises outcomes from day one.