Bergur Thormundsson
Research expert covering technology in the Nordics, AI and smart cities
Get in touch with us nowA new robot for timeless tasks
Figure AI’s offering to the robotic and AI market is a bipedal robot standing at 167 cm tall and weighing some 59 kg. It is powered by a generative AI model that allows it to be much more flexible and reactive when working compared to its competitors. The firm’s stated goal is for their robot to take over the countless human jobs that are being affected by labor shortages or are considered dangerous such as warehouse labor and other manual tasks. While not in active development, later models are intended to assist with nurse care and, if possible in the future, help humans build infrastructure in space. With the company’s origins tracing back to 2022, these are lofty and ambitious dreams, though more reachable to Figure AI than many other firms.Big dreams with big backers
The reason Figure AI differs from other startups with big dreams is that it has the backers with technology, know-how, and most importantly, the financial clout to make these dreams at least remotely possible. Figure AI, valued at over 2.6 billion U.S. dollars in June 2024, counts among its backers Microsoft, OpenAI, Nvidia, Amazon, Jeff Bezos personally, as well as many other venture capital firms. This is a significant repository of software and hardware for Figure AI, with the largest developer of AI and the most highly valued chip maker on earth in cooperative agreement with the startup.Fine line between cooperation and being consumed
Figure AI has, with its attractive AI robot selling pitch, attracted influential backers. But it remains to be seen if all this funding can manifest itself in a market-ready product. Secondly, but importantly for Figure AI, it must be careful that no one backer becomes so important as to wholly subsume its operations. Microsoft has already taken over another AI startup and its relationship with OpenAI is uncertain. In any case, Figure AI is the startup, among hundreds of competitors, that is well worth watching.
