Two weeks ago, Figure entered into a partnership with OpenAI. In an email dated March 13, 2024, the company announced its first update in this context. As you can imagine, the Figure 01 humanoid robot can now have full conversations with humans via end-to-end neural networks. By connecting to a large, pre-trained multimodal model, additional capabilities are made possible. According to the company, the AI-enhanced robot is able to describe its visual experiences, plan future actions, use common sense, reflect on its memory, and verbally explain its reasoning. These and other skills are impressively demonstrated in a video. The design of the robot’s body and head is convincing, although the face should be less mask-like. Overall, it seems less repulsive than comparable humanoid robots marketed as universal or all-purpose robots. It’s probably a good idea to let it work in closed and semi-open worlds, such as the BMW plant in Spartanburg, before it enters open worlds. That way, the workers can get used to it, and so can the public, which will be informed about its appearance and behavior through the media.

Fig.: Figure 01 (Image: Figure/Screenshot from the video)