Figure

“Humanoid Robot Craze: Figure Surfs to $2.6B Valuation and Forges Partnerships with OpenAI and Microsoft”

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It did so, however, with the ambitious goal of creating a walking bipedal robot in a year’s time. Humanoid robots are having a moment. The goal of the deal is to “develop next generation AI models for humanoid robots,” according to Figure. “We are excited to collaborate with Figure and work towards accelerating AI breakthroughs,” says Microsoft Corporate VP, Jon Tinter. Mechatronics are easier to judge in a short video than AI and autonomy, and from that perspective, the Figure 01 robot appears quite dexterous.

BMW Harnessing Figure’s Humanoid Robot for South Carolina Plant Deployment

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Figure today announced a “commercial agreement” that will bring its first humanoid robot to a BMW manufacturing facility in South Carolina. BMW has not disclosed how many Figure 01 models it will deploy initially. Nor do we know precisely what jobs the robot will be tasked with when it starts work. Adcock alludes to Figure 01 being tasked with an initial set of jobs that require high dexterity. Figure 01 will very much be learning on the job, as well, refining its approach during real-world testing, much as we humans do.

“Unstoppable: 1X Secures $100M from OpenAI for Advancements in Humanoid Robotics”

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The race to perfect the humanoid form factor will be one of 2024’s defining tech stories. 1X is a name (well, a number and letter) that surprisingly doesn’t get as much column space as most of the above. That underlying technology will almost certainly play an outsized role in shaping robotics’ future, and OpenAI has seemingly picked its horse. The humanoid robot strikes a similar figure (so to speak) as some of the competition. The logic (stop me if you’ve heard this one before) is that humanoids are the ideal form factor for navigating environments built by humanoids for humanoids.

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