Why Figure AI trained its humanoid robots to self-destruct like the Terminator

As Sarah Connor drives down a highway with John at the end of T2, she reflects on her renewed hope for an unknown future, musing, “If a machine, a Terminator, can learn the value of human life, maybe we can too.” The Terminators came from 2029, incidentally, which is now barely more than two years away. Everyone feeling good about the timeline? Great.

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Elly Trickett

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Link copied The robots in question were its Figure 2s, recently superseded by the shiny new Figure 3. Figure had kept the new 3 (as its friends call it) model shrouded in secrecy: when it gave Time magazine a sneak peek ahead of its launch last fall, it was hidden behind locked security doors while its predecessor roamed freely around the building. Described by Figure as its first mass-producible humanoid, 3 represented a serious overhaul: smaller and stronger joints, components that are 90% cheaper to manufacture and less of a tendency to catch fire (always a plus).