Depending on the news from Yahoo, the Figure AI, a robotics firm focused on developing general-purpose humanoid robots for both commercial and residential use, announced on X this Tuesday that it is ending its partnership with OpenAI. The Bay Area-based company will now prioritize in-house AI development, citing a recent “breakthrough.” OpenAI had been a long-time investor in Figure. The two companies formed a collaboration last year to “develop next-generation AI models for humanoid robots.” This partnership coincided with Figure’s $675 million funding round, which valued the company at $2.6 billion. This brought its total fundraising to $1.5 billion.
This news, highlighting that Figure AI ends its partnership with OpenAI, comes as a surprise, given OpenAI’s prominent position in the tech world. Being associated with OpenAI typically offers a significant boost in visibility. In August, Figure and OpenAI had announced that the Figure 02 humanoid would leverage OpenAI’s models for natural language communication. However, according to Figure CEO Adcock, the problem with the collaboration was integration.
OpenAI, a massive company with an extensive range of capabilities, is not primarily focused on embodied AI—the field that integrates AI into physical robots. Instead, Adcock believes that a specialized, end-to-end AI solution tailored to hardware is the more appropriate path forward. Despite this, automakers, like BMW, have been more than willing to explore the potential of humanoid robots. BMW deployed Figure robots in one of its South Carolina factories last year. It’s clear that the Figure AI ends OpenAI partnership to take a different approach.
There are also signs that OpenAI might be entering the humanoid hardware space. Just last Friday, OpenAI filed a trademark application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for user-programmable humanoid robots. These robots would include communication and learning functions aimed at assisting and entertaining people. While IP filings don’t guarantee future products, the timing of this move—coming so soon after Figure AI’s partnership ended with OpenAI—raises some eyebrows.
Figure’s substantial funding rounds have enabled it to rapidly scale its hardware and software teams. The company recently upgraded to a larger Bay Area office to accommodate its expanding workforce. As for the software, many humanoid robot companies are developing proprietary AI models. Though partnerships still play a significant role in the sector. In October, for example, Boston Dynamics announced a collaboration with Toyota Research Institute to integrate advanced AI into its Atlas humanoid robot. This happened despite news that Figure AI ends its collaboration with OpenAI.
