AI has become smarter and smarter, and far more advanced than ever before.
And thanks to Large Language Models-powered generative AI products, the technology has also become more interactive and capable of understanding context, better than ever before.
Now that the software is getting more capable, the next 'obvious' step is to create a hardware that is worthy of that AI.
And Figure AI is planning to do just that.
The company is developing what it calls the Figure 01, which is a sleek, human-like machine designed for versatility.
The company emphasizes "real-world usefulness," by focusing on practical tasks in warehouses and beyond.
And this time, Figure AI made headlines after Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, had committed $100 million through his firm Explore Investments LLC and Microsoft is investing $95 million, while Nvidia and an Amazon-affiliated fund are each providing $50 million.
According to reports, Figure AI, which is also backed by ChatGPT-maker OpenAI when it invested $5 million, is raising about $675 million in a funding round that carries a pre-money valuation of about $2 billion.
Reports said that Figure AI is also backed by Intel's venture capital arm, LG Innotek, Samsung's investment group, as well as venture firms Parkway Venture Capital, Align Ventures, ARK Venture Fund, Aliya Capital Partners and Tamarack.
In all, the funding which account to the millions of dollars, is meant to fuel its ambitious goal of creating a robot "iterated on like an iPhone," adaptable and multi-talented.
Investments in AI startups have sparked after the launch of OpenAI's viral chatbot ChatGPT in November 2022, as investors sense an opportunity, betting on these startups that they might outpace bigger rivals.
It's worth noting that OpenAI once considered acquiring Figure, reports said.
- Controls -
Figure controls team is designing the control software to enable the robot to work successfully in many human environments by using:
→ Torque-controlled walking
→ Modular control strategy
→ Whole body reasoning
→ Focus on manipulation— Figure (@Figure_robot) October 17, 2023
Figure AI is also developing an AI platform that will allow Figure 01 to learn and adapt to new situations.
A bigger player in this field, is Boston Dynamics, a company more established and already at the forefront of robotics recelopment.
But unlike Figure AI, Boston Dynamics has a different approach and area of focus.
Whereas Figure AI is a startup that is developing a general-purpose robot called Figure 01, a bipedal robot that is designed to be able to perform a wide variety of tasks, such as fetching objects, opening doors, and climbing stairs, Boston Dynamics is known for its development of animal-inspired robots, such as Spot the quadruped robot and Atlas the bipedal robot.
While products of Boston Dynamics also resemble Figure 01, but its robots are more focused towards specific tasks, such as inspection, search and rescue, and construction.
Regardless, Boston Dynamics is also planning to develop its own robots that can be used in more general-purpose applications.