Figure and OpenAI go their separate ways: New challenges for humanoid robots

Recently, Brett Adcock, founder of the robotics company Figure, announced the termination of his partnership with OpenAI, causing a stir in the tech industry. Figure claims to have made significant breakthroughs in fully self-developed end-to-end robot AI and will showcase "things never seen before on humanoid robots" in the next 30 days, undoubtedly making the entire industry full of expectations for it.

The collaboration between Figure and OpenAI was once highly anticipated. OpenAI is a technological leader in the fields of natural language processing and generative AI. In March 2024, after 13 days of collaborating with OpenAI, Figure released a demonstration video of Figure 01 powered by OpenAI's large model, which can recognize objects, converse with people, and do household chores. However, now the two have gone their separate ways, and the reasons behind it are worth pondering.

From a technical perspective, Adcock, the founder of Figure, emphasized that in order to achieve large-scale application of embodied AI in the real world, the deep vertical integration of robotics technology and AI is indispensable. Although OpenAI has powerful technology, applying AI to physical robots is not its core focus. A true breakthrough requires deep integration of AI models with specific hardware, which is the key to Figure's decision to independently develop.

From the perspective of market competition, OpenAI has shown its ambition to return to the field of robotics, starting to form a professional team and submitting trademark applications involving hardware products such as humanoid robots. To avoid potential competitive threats in cooperation, independent development is chosen to better control technology and market direction.

The decision to terminate cooperation and pursue independent research and development in Figure is a bold decision based on its own development strategy and technological roadmap, and also reflects its confidence in its own technological strength. Figure has made significant breakthroughs in its self-developed end-to-end robot AI. Although specific details have not yet been announced, based on its past development, Figure 01, a humanoid robot, can learn to make coffee in just 10 hours of training by watching human video demonstrations. Figure 02 also possesses natural dialogue and visual reasoning abilities. The major breakthrough today is likely to be a qualitative leap in autonomous decision-making, environmental perception, task execution, and other aspects of robots.

In the next 30 days, Figure will showcase "things that have never been seen before on humanoid robots", which may be a new way of human-computer interaction, allowing robots to communicate and collaborate with humans more naturally and smoothly; Perhaps there has been a significant breakthrough in the mobility of robots, enabling them to adapt to more complex terrains and environments; Perhaps there has been innovation in the learning ability of robots, enabling them to learn new skills and knowledge at a faster speed and higher efficiency.

This measure in Figure is of great significance for the development of the humanoid robot industry. On the one hand, it provides new ideas and directions for the development of the industry, which is to create more efficient and intelligent humanoid robot systems through independent research and vertical integration. On the other hand, the breakthrough in Figure will also intensify industry competition, prompting other companies to increase investment in independent research and development, and promote the rapid development of humanoid robot technology.

Of course, the path of independent development for Figure is not always smooth sailing. At the technical level, developing a fully end-to-end robot AI system requires significant breakthroughs in both hardware and software. Figure requires continuous optimization of the robot's hardware design to improve sensor accuracy and reliability, while also developing more advanced AI algorithms to enable autonomous decision-making and task execution of the robot. At the market level, the humanoid robot market is still in its early stages of development, and market demand has not yet been fully unleashed. Figure needs to continuously expand its market application scenarios and improve the cost-effectiveness of robots to attract more customers.

The termination of the collaboration between Figure and OpenAI is an important milestone in the development of the humanoid robotics industry. It not only reflects Figure's determination and strength in technological innovation, but also brings new opportunities and challenges to the development of the entire industry. In the future development, it remains to be seen whether Figure can achieve its vision and bring us truly disruptive humanoid robot products.