Silicon Valley's Latest Binge-Watch Is a Humanoid Warehouse Worker - Business Insider

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

By Rya Jetha

You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email. Silicon Valley's hottest livestream this week is a humanoid robot clocking in for a warehouse shift.

It began Wednesday, when Figure AI CEO Brett Adcock set out to prove to skeptics that his robots could complete an eight-hour stretch of autonomous labor. Within hours, Figure AI had a film crew at its San Jose headquarters and was streaming a humanoid doing one of the dullest tasks imaginable: sorting packages. Figure AI reached its goal of running the robot for eight hours with "zero failures," Adcock said, and decided to keep going. By the 24-hour mark on Thursday morning, the humanoids had sorted more than 30,000 packages, with more than 3 million cumulative views.

The viral stream is more than a robotics stunt. For Figure AI, a startup valued near $40 billion, it is a public audition for a future in which humanoids can work long shifts in warehouses, factories, and eventually homes. The demo gave investors and potential customers a rare look at whether the company's robots can perform repetitive labor reliably.