Microsoft, OpenAI, & more joined forces with Figure to speed up the humanoid robot development

Figure, an AI robotics company developing general-purpose humanoid robots, announced that it was able to raise $675M in Series B funding at a $2.6B valuation with investments from Microsoft, OpenAI Startup Fund, NVIDIA, Jeff Bezos (through Bezos Expeditions), Parkway Venture Capital, Intel Capital, Align Ventures, and ARK Invest. 

The funding will help them accelerate the Figure’s timeline for humanoid commercial deployment. Along with this investment, the Figure and OpenAI partnership’s objective is to develop advanced AI models for humanoid robots by facilitating OpenAI research and Figure’s deep understanding of robotics hardware and software.

This strategic collaboration also aims to speed up Figure’s commercial timeline by enhancing humanoid robots’ capabilities to process and reason for language.

Peter Welinder, VP of Product and Partnerships at OpenAI, stated:

We’ve long envisioned a return to robotics, and Figure offers a compelling path to realize the potential of humanoid robots powered by advanced multimodal models. Figure’s remarkable advancements inspire us, and we anticipate groundbreaking possibilities for real-world robotic applications.

The Figure team has AI robotics experts from Tesla, Boston Dynamics, Archer Aviation, and Google DeepMind. They have made commendable progress in the important areas of AI, robot development & testing, and commercialization.

The Figure team can use the new capital for AI training, expanding engineering headcount, robot manufacturing, and advancing commercial deployment efforts.

Jon Tinter, Corporate Vice President of Business Development at Microsoft, said:

We’re thrilled to join forces with Figure on the path to AI breakthroughs. Through our work together, Figure will have access to Microsoft’s AI infrastructure and services to support the deployment of humanoid robots to assist people with real world applications,.

Brett Adcock, Founder and CEO of Figure, said:

Our vision at Figure is to bring humanoid robots into commercial operations as soon as possible. This investment, combined with our partnership with OpenAI and Microsoft, ensures that we are well-prepared to bring embodied AI into the world to make a transformative impact on humanity. AI and robotics are the future, and I am grateful to have the support of investors and partners who believe in being at the forefront.

What do you think about this partnership? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.