Figure AI had one of its robots race a human to sort packages. It lost. - Business Insider

Subscribe Newsletters

You're currently following this topic! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.

The latest news and analysis on robotics, from humanoid AI to real-world automation.

The latest news and analysis on robotics, from humanoid AI to real-world automation.

Silicon Valley's latest binge-watch is a humanoid warehouse worker

Roomba inventor Colin Angle made robots useful. Now he wants to make them lovable.

Figure AI's robots can make a bed faster than you

Want to hire for your robotics startup? The autonomous vehicle industry is ripe for picking.

Figure AI had one of its robots race a human to sort packages. It lost.

By Rya Jetha

You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email. A coterie of humanoid robots has been sorting packages on a looped conveyor belt at Figure's headquarters since last Wednesday. The exercise aims to show potential customers that Figure AI's humanoids can work reliably for long stretches, including 24-hour shifts, Figure AI investor and board member Jesse Coors-Blankenship told Business Insider last week.

Figure AI first set out last Wednesday to have its humanoids complete an eight-hour stretch of autonomous labor. One robot sorted packages while two others stood on chargers in the background, ready to sub in when their colleague needed to power up. By the end of the first eight hours, the livestream had drawn more than 1.5 million views on X, and viewers had named the robots Bob, Frank, and Gary. Twenty-four hours later, the humanoids had sorted more than 30,000 packages and attracted more than 3 million cumulative views on X. The livestream is still going six days later.

Adcock has said the livestream will continue until the robots fail. Viewers have called the feed "surprisingly addicting" and "robotic ASMR," and Figure has even started selling merch of its package-sorting humanoids.

Figure has previously shared a video of its humanoids doing chores, such as making a bed.