figureA Sunnyvale, California-based startup focused on developing humanoid robotics to alleviate labor shortages in heavy and manual labor industries reminiscent of warehousing and retail has just received tremendous support and appreciation.
The The company announced this today It has received an incredible $675 million investment round from tech industry heavyweights reminiscent of Microsoft, OpenAI Startup Fund, NVIDIA, Jeff Bezos (via Bezos Expeditions), Parkway Venture Capital, Intel Capital, Align Ventures and ARK Invest. Figure says the worth is now $2.6 billion – a unicorn greater than 2.5 times higher.
CEO and founder Brett Adcock, formerly answerable for aerospace startup Archer Aviation, published on
A brand new collaboration is emerging
Additionally, Figure said it has “entered a collaboration agreement” with OpenAI to make use of its AI capabilities to develop recent models that power the brains of Figure robots.
Last month, Figure unveiled its robot prototype, Figure 01, which makes coffee using only neural networks trained on images. Now, Adcock says OpenAI's models will further support the machine learning capabilities of the robot operating system.
“We at all times intended to return to robotics, and with Figure we see a solution to explore what humanoid robots can achieve when powered by high-performance multimodal models,” said Peter Welinder, vice chairman of products and partnerships at OpenAI, in a press release provided in a Figure press release. “We are overwhelmed by Figure’s progress to date and look ahead to working together to open up recent ways robots may help in on a regular basis life.”
Partnerships with related industries
Also last month, Figure announced that it had signed an agreement with automaker BMW Manufacturing to develop its robots and deploy them in its automotive factories and facilities.
The support of such established and high-profile technology and automotive names shows how Figure, founded just 21 months ago by former employees of Boston Dynamics, Tesla, Google DeepMind and Archer Aviation, is impressing neighboring industries with its technology and roadmap.
Figure also appears to be on a direct competitive course Tesla and his humanoid robot Optimus project in addition to lesser-known but still well-positioned startups reminiscent of: Oregon's Agility Roboticswhat has collaborated with Amazon is testing its humanoid robot “Digit” to be used in moving and preparing packages in achievement warehouses.
