Mar 04, 2024 12:00:00

Humanoid robot development company 'Figure' raises 100 billion yen from Microsoft, OpenAI, NVIDIA, etc. and reaches a valuation of 390 billion yen

Robot development company Figure has announced that it has raised $675 million (approximately 100 billion yen) from Microsoft, OpenAI, NVIDIA, Jeff Bezos, and others. Figure plans to use the funds to advance research and development of humanoid robots, and has also announced that it will work with OpenAI to develop AI for humanoid robots.

Figure Raises $675M at $2.6B Valuation and Signs Collaboration Agreement with OpenAI
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/figure-raises-675m-at-2-6b-valuation-and-signs-collaboration-agreement-with-openai-302074897.html

Figure is a robotics development company based in California, USA, and is conducting research to commercialize humanoid robots. The humanoid robots developed by Figure can walk upright on two legs like humans, and can learn movements just by 'showing a video' without humans having to program the movements in detail in advance. For example, in January 2024, a demonstration was released that 'learned and executed a series of actions to make coffee with a coffee machine after only 10 hours of video study,' which became a hot topic.

Why does the 'video of a humanoid robot making coffee' represent a big step forward for the future of AI robotics? - GIGAZINE

In addition, Figure will also release a demo video of the humanoid robot on February 27, 2024. The video below shows Figure walking to a point where a container is located, lifting the container, and placing the container correctly on the roller conveyor.

Figure Status Update - Real World Task - YouTube

On February 29, 2024, Figure announced that it had raised a total of $675 million (about 100 billion yen) from Microsoft, OpenAI Startup Fund, NVIDIA, Jeff Bezos, Parkway Venture Capital, Intel Capital, and Align Ventures. It was also revealed that Figure's valuation has reached $2.6 billion (about 390 billion yen).

Announcing: Figure raises $675M at $2.6B valuation

In addition, OpenAI & Figure signed a collaboration agreement to develop next generation AI models

More details below: pic.twitter.com/iVYBrcQTPT
— Figure (@Figure_robot) February 29, 2024

The funds raised will be used for 'AI learning,' 'building a manufacturing environment,' 'deploying more robots,' 'expanding the recruitment of engineers,' and 'promoting commercial deployment.' In addition, Figure has revealed that it will work with OpenAI to develop 'next-generation AI models for humanoid robots' with improved language processing and reasoning capabilities.

We also signed a collaboration agreement with OpenAI to develop next generation AI models for humanoid robots

The collaboration aims to help accelerate Figure's commercial timeline by enhancing the capabilities of humanoid robots to process and reason from language
— Figure (@Figure_robot) February 29, 2024

Figure also revealed that it uses Microsoft's cloud computing service Azure for its AI infrastructure, AI training and storage, highlighting its close collaboration with Microsoft and OpenAI.

Figure will leverage Microsoft Azure for AI infrastructure, training, and storage

We are excited to partner with OpenAI and Microsoft to bring embodied AI to the real world
— Figure (@Figure_robot) February 29, 2024

Figure is recruiting engineers on the following page.

Careers | Figure
https://www.figure.ai/careers