Public-private settlement positions Louisiana as a nationwide testbed for embodied AI in superior manufacturing and industrial workforce innovation
St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana / January 22, 2026 / The State of Louisiana and Persona AI headquartered in Houston, Texas, as we speak introduced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to launch a pilot program advancing humanoid robotics in energetic heavy-industry environments. The pilot, to be carried out at SSE Metal Fabrication’s (SSE Metal) large-scale fabrication facility in St. Bernard Parish, marks a major second the place a State has formally partnered with {industry} to assist humanoid robotics growth in a dwell industrial setting.
Facilitated by Louisiana Innovation (LA.IO), a division of Louisiana Financial Improvement (LED), and supported by Better New Orleans, Inc. (GNO, Inc.), the initiative will place Louisiana as a nationwide chief in embodied AI in superior manufacturing and next-generation workforce applied sciences. The pilot will concentrate on gathering real-world human motion and activity information in an working metal manufacturing facility, informing how humanoid methods will understand, transfer, and work alongside expert tradespeople in advanced, dynamic environments.
“That is precisely the type of utilized innovation Louisiana needs to be leaning into,” stated Josh Fleig, Chief Innovation Officer at Louisiana Financial Improvement. “Partnerships like these will enable our small companies to undertake new instruments, modernize the way in which they function and compete at the next stage. As firms innovate, they are not simply rising their backside line; they’re creating pathways to higher-skill, higher-paying careers that strengthen their workforce and develop alternative throughout Louisiana.”
The pilot will leverage SSE Metal’s superior fabrication operations as the commercial proving floor for Persona AI’s upcoming launch of rugged humanoid platforms, that are being designed to function in environments initially constructed for people reasonably than redesigned for conventional automation. In contrast to fastened industrial robots, humanoid robots are envisioned to make use of present instruments, navigate uneven terrain, and adapt to altering situations, capabilities that make them significantly well-suited for heavy {industry} sectors dealing with persistent labor shortages and operational complexity.
“This collaboration permits us to discover rising applied sciences the place they matter most, on the store flooring, not in a lab,” stated Justin Airhart, Chief Operations Officer of SSE Metal Fabrication. “SSE Metal has lengthy embraced innovation in service of security, productiveness, and workforce sustainability. Supporting this pilot aligns instantly with that mission.”
Persona AI, based by leaders within the humanoid robotics group, is growing humanoid robots purpose-built for what the corporate calls “4D jobs”: work that’s boring, soiled, harmful, and declining. The corporate’s method facilities on augmenting human employees, with robots taking over high-risk or hard-to-staff duties whereas skilled tradespeople transfer into higher-value roles reminiscent of supervision, high quality assurance, and robotic operations.
“Partnering with the State of Louisiana permits us to speed up humanoid growth in some of the industrially related areas within the nation,” stated Nicolaus Radford, CEO of Persona AI. “Louisiana is actively investing within the innovation required to rebuild home shipbuilding and heavy manufacturing capability. Working alongside LA.IO, GNO, Inc., and industrial leaders like SSE Metal offers our humanoid the situations it must mature and deploy at scale.”
The pilot additionally displays broader nationwide momentum round humanoid robotics throughout manufacturing, maritime, vitality, protection, and infrastructure: industries central to Louisiana’s economic system and U.S. provide chains. As these applied sciences advance, leaders emphasize that adoption traditionally creates new, higher-value roles even because it transforms present ones, increasing demand for robotic technicians, methods operators, security supervisors, information specialists, and expert trades educated to work alongside superior machines.
“Actual innovation occurs while you take what already works and responsibly push it into what’s subsequent—precisely what SSE Metal and Persona AI are doing in St. Bernard Parish,” stated Michael Hecht, President and CEO of GNO, Inc. “Louisiana has the commercial depth to deploy AI in the true world, at actual scale, in ways in which strengthen operations whereas preserving and upskilling jobs. This pilot is about modernizing confirmed processes safely, attracting sustained funding, and constructing a sturdy aggressive benefit for our industrial workforce and communities.”
The pilot is concentrated on information assortment and real-world validation forward of broader deployments. State and regional leaders view it as a foundational step towards scaling humanoid robotics throughout Louisiana’s core industries and establishing the state as a nationwide proving floor for next-generation industrial work.
Further particulars on the pilot program will probably be introduced because the undertaking progresses.
