The market for human-looking robots just got a lot more money pumped into it.
What happened: Figure AI announced a US$675 million Series B round that values the two-year-old robotics startup at US$2.6 billion. Some big names in tech seem to think it’s a solid enough bet that their cash comes with new partnerships.
- OpenAI will work with Figure to develop new large language models for robots, helping them understand instructions from their human co-workers.
- Microsoft will give Figure access to the Azure cloud computing platform for storage, training, and infrastructure.
- Other notable entities chipping in include Nvidia, Amazon, Bezos Expeditions, and Intel Capital.
Big picture: A lot of startups are developing humanoid robots for factories and warehouses, but this round makes Figure the most well-funded by a long shot, which is a big leg up in a field where development and parts are really expensive.
- Vancouver-based Sanctuary brought its funding to US$100 million in 2022, the same year Amazon-backed Agility hit the US$180 million mark.
- 1X’s total funding is US$125 million after a US$100 million Series B, which OpenAI also participated in.
- Apptronik has raised US$28.7 million in seed funding, according to Crunchbase. It plans to make its robots commercially available by the end of 2024.
Why it matters: Like many AI investments, the fervour around humanoid robots is not because anyone expects them to do a human’s job better — that level of artificial general intelligence is five years away by optimistic estimates and centuries away by others. But maybe, with time and resources, they can eventually do it cheaper.
Yes, but: Lower your expectations of what these robots can do right now. A recent video showed a shuffling Figure robot carrying a crate to a conveyor belt, a task completed at 16.7% the speed of a human.
Zoom out: Amazon started testing Agility’s robots in some warehouses last fall, but it’s automakers that seem especially keen on ‘supplementing’ expensive human workers. Figure has a deal to work in one of BMW’s factories, Tesla has been building its own bots, and Hyundai acquired Boston Dynamics — the maker of everyone’s favourite dog-like robots — in 2022.