Figure AI: Figure 01
The artificial intelligence robotics startup Figure AI revealed Figure 01 in March 2023, referring to it as “the world’s first commercially viable general purpose humanoid robot.” In March 2024, the company demonstrated the bot’s ability to communicate with people and provide context for its actions, in addition to carrying out helpful tasks.
The first set of industries for which Figure 01 was intended to be used is manufacturing, warehousing, logistics, and retail. Figure declared in January 2024 that a BMW manufacturing factory would be the bots’ first location of deployment.
The funding is anticipated to hasten Figure 01’s commercial deployment. In February 2024, Figure disclosed that the company had raised $675 million from investors, including OpenAI, Microsoft, and Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.
Sanctuary AI: Phoenix
The goal of Sanctuary AI, a Canadian company, is to develop “the world’s first human-like intelligence in general-purpose robots.” It is creating Carbon, an AI control system for robots, to do that, and it unveiled Phoenix, its sixth-generation robot and first humanoid robot with Carbon, in May 2023.
According to Sanctuary, Phoenix is to be able to perform almost every work that a human can perform in their typical setting. It declared in April 2024 that one of its investors, the car parts manufacturer Magna, would be participating in a Phoenix trial program.
Magna and Sanctuary have not disclosed the number of robots they intend to use in the pilot test or its anticipated duration, but if all goes according to plan, Magna will likely be among the company’s initial customers.
Tesla: Optimus Gen 2
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, revealed plans to create Optimus, a humanoid Tesla Bot, in the closing moments of the company’s inaugural AI Day in 2021. Tesla introduced the most recent version of the robot in December 2023; it has improvements to its hands, walking speed, and other features.
It’s difficult to believe Tesla wouldn’t use the robots at its own plants, especially considering how interested humanoids are becoming in auto manufacturing. Musk claims that the goal of Optimus is to be able to accomplish tasks that are “boring, repetitive, and dangerous.”
Although Musk is known for being overly optimistic about deadlines, recent job postings indicate that Optimus may soon be prepared for field testing. In January 2024, Musk told investors there’s a “good chance” Tesla will be ready to start deploying Optimus bots to consumers in 2025.
Unitree Robotics: H1
Chinese company Unitree had already brought several robotic arms and quadrupeds to market by the time it unveiled H1, its first general-purpose humanoid, in August 2023.
H1 doesn’t have hands, so applications that require finger dexterity are out of the question, at least for this version, and while Unitree hasn’t speculated about future uses, its emphasis on the robot’s mobility suggests it’s targeting applications where the bot would walk around a lot, such as security or inspections.
When the H1 was first announced, Unitree stated that it was working on “flexible fingers” for the robot as an add-on feature and that it intended to sell the robot for a startlingly low $90,000. Although it has been posting video updates on its progress on a daily basis and has already put the robot up for sale on its website, it also stated that it didn’t think H1 would be ready for another three to ten years.
The big picture
These and other multipurpose humanoids may one day liberate humanity from the tedious, filthy, and dangerous jobs that, at best, make us dread Mondays and, at worst, cause us to be injured.
Society must adopt new technologies responsibly to ensure that everyone benefits from them, not just the people who own the robots and the spaces where they work because they also have the potential to raise income disparity and the loss of jobs.
Robots will change how we live, and we will witness a new technological revolution that has already begun with AI. These machines will change how we work, first in factories, and then assist people in various fields, including home care and hospital facilities. As robots enter our homes, society will also have to change if we want to enjoy the benefits of this revolution, which allows us to work less hard, for less time, and to devote ourselves more to our inclinations, but we need the opportunities to change things.
