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The race to bring AI-powered humanoid robots into homes and workplaces around the world gained modern momentum today as Figure, a company backed by OpenAI and others with $675 million in its last funding round in February, today released a teaser of its latest model: the Figure 02, along with an August 6, 2024 release date.
As you can see in the video, it lacks detail, but there are plenty of shakes and close-ups, showing views of what appear to be the robot’s joints and limbs, as well as some engaging, presumably elastic mesh designs for the robot’s body and labels for torque ratings of up to 150 Nm (newton meters, or “the torque produced by a force of one newton applied perpendicularly to the end of a one-meter-long lever arm,” according to Google’s AI Review ) and “ROM,” which I understand to mean “range of motion” of up to 195 degrees (out of a total of 360).
Founder Brett Adcock also posted on his private X/Twitter account that Figure 02 is the “most advanced humanoid robot on the planet.”
With the support of huge names in technology and artificial intelligence
Adcock, an entrepreneur who previously founded cutting-edge startups Archer Aviation and recruiting agency Vettery, founded Figure AI in 2022.
In March 2023 The character emerged from stealth mode introduce Figure 01, a universal humanoid robot designed to solve the global labor shortage by performing tasks in various industries such as manufacturing, logistics, warehousing and retail.
With a team of 40 industry experts, including Dr. Jerry Pratt as CTO, Figure AI completed a full-scale humanoid in just six months. Adcock predicts that the robots will raise productivity and safety by taking on perilous and undesirable tasks, ultimately contributing to a more automated and capable future, while maintaining that they will never be weaponized.
The company, which in addition to OpenAI includes investors and backers NVidia, Microsoft, Intel Capital and Bezos Expeditions (the private fund of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos), signed a deal with BMW Manufacturing earlier this year and showcased impressive integrations with OpenAI’s GPT-4V, or the vision model previously used in the Figure 01 robot, ahead of the launch of OpenAI’s modern flagship product, GPT-4o and GPT-4o mini.
Presumably, Figure 02 will have one of the newer OpenAI models controlling its movements and interactions, one of the leading names.
Competition in deciphering humanoid robots intensifies
Figure has been a bit peaceful lately, even as other companies debut and unveil AI-enabled humanoid robot designs that they hope will facilitate people in places like warehouses, factories, manufacturing plants, fulfillment centers, nursing homes, retail outlets, healthcare facilities, and, of course, homes.
While humanoid robots have long been the stuff of science fiction, their debut as commercial products has been tardy and marred by steep projects largely confined to research settings. But that’s changing with generative AI, or more specifically, gigantic language models (LLMs) and multimodal AI models that can rapidly analyze live video and audio input and respond with human-like sound and their own movements.
Indeed, recently, billionaire and multi-company owner Elon Musk declared with his typical bravado and ambitious goals that there was a market for over 10 billion humanoid robots on Earth (more than one per person) — which he hoped to control, or at least take over in part, with his electric car and artificial intelligence company Tesla Motors (which is working on its own competing humanoid robot). called Tesla Optimus).
In addition, Nvidia unveiled modern advances in training the artificial intelligence that drives humanoid robots as part of the GR00T project, using Apple Vision Pro headsets worn by human teleoperators to guide the robots into making the appropriate movements:
And earlier this year, pioneering humanoid robotics company Boston Dynamics unveiled an improved version of its Atlas humanoid robot, replacing hydraulic actuators with electric motors in a move that is likely intended to make the robot cheaper, quieter, more reliable and more strong.
So competition in the sector seems to be intensifying. But with such huge sponsors and forward momentum, Figure seems well-positioned to continue its own efforts in this space.