8 articles · Last covered
Following the retirement of its second-generation fleet, Figure returns to BMW’s South Carolina plant with Figure 03 to tackle complex material sorting and sequencing tasks.
New details from BMW and Figure AI reveal that while the Spartanburg pilot was a cultural and operational success, the "brute force" architecture of the Figure 02 was insufficient for global scaling.
Following a successful pilot in the US, BMW is launching its first European humanoid robotics project at Plant Leipzig, featuring Hexagon’s multifunctional AEON robot.
CEO Brett Adcock announces a Figure humanoid has been operating 10 hours a day on the BMW X3 production line, a milestone that follows earlier scrutiny over the scale of the deployment.
Figure AI CEO Brett Adcock announced via LinkedIn that the company is pursuing legal action, including potential defamation claims, against Fortune magazine. Adcock alleges a recent article contained 'egregious inaccuracies' regarding Figure's business and its partnership with BMW Manufacturing.
Recent reports suggest the initial deployment of Figure AI's humanoid robots at BMW's Spartanburg plant is a small-scale feasibility study focused on identifying use cases, rather than an immediate, large-scale integration into production tasks. This reality check highlights the incremental nature of deploying advanced robotics in complex industrial settings.
Allen Zhu, a high-profile Chinese venture capitalist with GSR Ventures, has expressed skepticism about the near-term commercial viability of humanoid robots. He reportedly questions their cost-effectiveness compared to specialized automation and highlights the lack of a 'killer app,' suggesting mass adoption may be over a decade away.
Figure AI showcased its humanoid robots performing material handling tasks within BMW's live production facility in Spartanburg, South Carolina. This marks a move from controlled tests to real-world automotive manufacturing operations for the Figure 01 robot.
