Humanoid robot maker Figure AI announced the completion of a $675 million Series B funding round, resulting in a valuation of $2.6 billion. This funding round included investments from a range of entities including Microsoft, OpenAI Startup Fund, NVIDIA, Jeff Bezos through Bezos Expeditions, Parkway Venture Capital, Intel Capital, Align Ventures, and ARK Invest.
Concurrently, Figure has formed a collaboration agreement with OpenAI. This partnership is aimed at developing next-generation AI models for humanoid robots, combining the research capabilities of OpenAI with Figure’s expertise in robotics hardware and software. The goal of this collaboration is to enhance the language processing and reasoning capabilities of humanoid robots, which is expected to assist in accelerating Figure’s commercial deployment.
Figure’s team includes professionals from Boston Dynamics, Tesla, Google DeepMind, and Archer Aviation. The company has made advancements in AI, robot development, robot testing, and commercialization, recently announcing a commercial agreement with BMW Manufacturing for the integration of humanoid robots in automotive production. The newly acquired funds are intended to be used for scaling AI training, robot manufacturing, expanding the engineering team, and furthering commercial deployment efforts.
Moreover, Figure plans to leverage Microsoft Azure for its AI infrastructure, training, and storage requirements. This collaboration with Microsoft is intended to support the deployment and development of humanoid robots for practical applications.
Brett Adcock, Founder and CEO of Figure, stated that the investment and partnerships with companies like OpenAI and Microsoft are crucial for the company’s vision to bring humanoid robots into commercial use. Adcock emphasized the role of AI and robotics in the future and expressed appreciation for the support from investors and partners.
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