Okay, so get this, breaking news just dropped and wow, it's huge, like huge E in the world
of AI and robotics.
Really shaking things up.
Yeah, figure, you know, the company building those super advanced humanoid robots.
Oh yeah, I've seen the videos.
Well, they just made a major power move that has everyone buzzing, literally.
What do they do?
Well, figures founder, Brett Adcock, he went on X and announced this breakthrough, like
a massive one in what he called a fully end to end robot AI and get this.
Let me guess, they developed it themselves.
Yeah, completely in house, no more open AI.
Wow, they're cutting ties with open AI.
That's a bold move.
Weren't they like partnered up?
They were back in February 2024.
They teamed up, you know, to combine open AI's research with figures hardware, but now.
So like figures robots were already using open AI stuff, right?
Like chat, GPT for the whole talking thing.
Exactly.
So, video of figures 01 robot having a conversation.
Yeah, that was pretty wild for a machine, I mean.
Totally.
Well, that was all thanks to open AI's chat GPT and their figure 02 model, that one actually
started working full time at a BMW factory in South Carolina, like last January.
So things seem to be going well for them.
Why walk away from that partnership?
Well, Adcox reasoning is interesting.
He says that embodied AI, you know, AI that interacts with the real world can't really
be effectively outsourced.
That's his point.
Yeah, so it's like to really make embodied AI work on a larger scale, they need complete
control.
So they're basically going for like complete vertical integration.
Yeah, exactly.
Hardware, software, the whole should bang.
I wonder if this is going to be a trend, you know, more companies wanting that level of
control, especially in robotics.
Could be.
It'll be interesting to see who follows figures lead on this one, but going up against a giant
like open AI, that's a bold move for sure.
Makes you wonder if they're biting off more than they can chew.
I mean, building a complete AI system from scratch, that's not a walk in the park.
No kidding.
I mean, you need a crazy talented team, tons of data to train the AI and enough computing
power to like process it all.
It's not just about having a good idea.
It takes serious resources and they're not exactly aiming small.
Computer wants to ship, get this, 100,000 humanoid robots in the next four years.
Whoa, seriously.
To hit that target, they'd need to produce like a thousand robots just this year.
That's a lot of robots.
I think they can do it.
Well, it sounds crazy, but remember that Chinese startup, Abbott, they claim to have already
made a thousand robots in 2024.
Oh yeah, I remember hearing about them.
So maybe the production numbers aren't totally out of reach.
Right, but what about the quality of the AI?
That's where this in-house system comes in.
It's like their secret weapon.
Yeah, what exactly if they come with, Adcock mentioned this fully end-to-end robot AI thing,
but he was pretty vague on the details.
I know, right?
But here's the exciting part.
He promised a demo within the next 30 days.
A demo.
Okay, now that's something I'd love to see.
Same here.
This whole situation just, it just highlights how competitive the humanoid robot market
is becoming, you know?
It's like a race, a high stakes one to see who can build the most advanced robots.
Totally, and it's not just figure in the game, right?
We've got Tesla too.
They're developing their own humanoid robot, Optimus.
Yeah, Elon Musk even mentioned trying to hit 10,000 units this year.
But knowing Elon Musk, those timelines...
Could be a little flexible.
Exactly, but still, figure aiming for mass production and Tesla pushing those limits,
it feels like we're on the verge of a real-life robot revolution.
It's like science fiction is becoming reality.
Right.
And there are other players emerging too besides just figure and Tesla, I remember, Abbott,
that Chinese company.
Right, and a few other startups popping up around the world.
So it's a crowded field, very competitive, but this brings up a big question.
What happens to OpenAI now?
Do they just, you know, step aside and watch figure and Tesla battle it out?
I doubt it.
I think they're just getting started.
So OpenAI, they're not going anywhere.
But before we get to them, I think we need to talk about, you know, the sheer difficulty
of what figure is trying to do.
Oh, absolutely, going solo on AI development, especially for something as complex as, you
know, humanoid robots.
Yeah, it's a huge undertaking, like a mountain of obstacles.
And one of the biggest ones, assembling the right team, they're going to need the best
of the best.
Top AI researchers, robotics engineers, software developers.
Yeah, and it's a competitive market out there for that kind of talent.
Huge, finding those people and then keeping them.
It's not easy.
And it's not just about finding the right people, right?
They need to create an environment where those people can actually do their best work.
100%.
You need a culture of innovation where people can, you know, really push those boundaries.
And then there's the whole data thing, right?
To train a powerful AI, you need tons and tons of data, images, videos, sensor readings,
all of that.
Think of it this way.
If you want to teach a child about the world, you show them lots of different things.
Yeah.
Well, it's similar with AI, but on a much, much larger scale.
So the more data you feed it, the better it learns.
Exactly.
And then on top of that, there's the whole challenge of organizing all that data, making
sure it's usable for training.
Right.
Because gathering the data is one thing, but actually using it to teach the AI.
That's a whole other story.
And then you've got the computing power you need to actually process all of that data.
Which is massive, right?
Like training these advanced AI models can take weeks, even months, even with the most
powerful computers.
It's insane.
It's not for the faint of heart.
And we haven't even talked about the financial side of things yet.
Yeah, because research and development in this field is not cheap.
No, not at all.
It's going to be really deep pockets.
If they want to hit those goals, those really ambitious goals, they're going to need serious
cash.
And they're aiming to ship, remember, 100,000 robots in the next four years, which is a huge
manufacturing and distribution challenge on top of everything else we've talked about.
Yeah.
Scaling up production to that level, that's a whole other beast.
You'll need to build factories, streamline their supply chain.
It's incredibly complicated.
So it's a risky move.
A lot of things could go wrong.
It is.
It's like, I don't know, climbing Mount Everest without a guide.
Complete freedom, but also complete responsibility.
High risk, high reward.
But hey, figures seems pretty confident.
I mean, they wouldn't have made this move if they didn't think they could succeed, right?
True.
And they've had successes already.
Their earlier robots, the ones they developed with OpenAI, those were pretty impressive.
Yeah.
And they've got those partnerships.
They've been forming.
Remember, they mentioned signing a deal with a large U.S. company to provide an end-to-end
neural network for AI training.
Right.
So they're generating revenue, gaining traction.
Exactly.
And those partnerships can be valuable in other ways too.
They give them access to more data, more insights from different industries.
It's a way to learn and grow faster.
So they're going solo on the AI side, but they're not completely isolating themselves.
They're finding ways to still collaborate, still learn from others, which is smart.
It is.
They're saying, hey, we're taking ownership of our core strength, our AI, but we're also
open to partnerships that can help us get better.
It's a good reminder that even in a field, this competitive, you know, collaboration
still matters.
Absolutely.
But let's not forget the other players in this game.
Here has those ambitious goals, but they're not the only ones.
What about Tesla and their Optimus project?
Right.
Tesla is a force to be reckoned with.
They've got massive resources, a really powerful brand, and a CEO who's, well, you
know, famous for pushing the limits.
And they've got a proven track record of scaling up production really quickly.
Just look at their electric cars.
Exactly.
So if they apply those same principles to robotics, they could flood the market very
quickly, which would put a ton of pressure on figure to keep up.
Yeah, and other companies too.
It's not just about who could build the most robots either, right?
The quality of the AI, the user experience, the overall value, that's all going to matter.
It's like any other product.
You can have the most advanced technology in the world, but if it's not user friendly.
People aren't going to use it.
It has to be reliable.
Affordable.
So yeah, it's a really complex challenge, not just building robots, but building robots
that people actually want and can actually use.
So we've got figure going solo, Tesla going big, and a bunch of other companies entering
the game.
Yeah, but it also makes you wonder, where is all this going?
Yeah, what kind of world are we heading towards?
Because we're standing at this like pivotal moment.
The choices being made now by these companies, they're going to shape the future.
It's kind of thrilling, but also a little scary, to be honest.
I agree.
We need to be mindful of the downsides.
Right.
We can't just focus on the cool technology and forget about the potential risks.
We need to think about the ethical implications.
The impact on jobs.
We have a responsibility to make sure these technologies benefit everyone.
And that's not just the responsibility of the companies building them.
It's all of us.
We need to be part of the conversation.
Yeah, exactly.
So we've talked about figure, we talked about Tesla, but there's one more major player we
haven't talked about in depth, open AI.
They're not out of the game yet, that's for sure.
They're just getting started.
Okay, so figures off doing their own thing.
Tesla's aiming for those big numbers, but what about open AI?
What's their next move?
Well, it seems like they're not just going to sit back and watch.
No, it really feels like they've doubled down on robotics.
Remember, we talked about them relaunching that robotics team last year?
Yeah, and then there were those job postings looking for experts and sensors and electronics,
all that stuff.
Like they're gearing up for something big, right?
Yeah.
And then there was that trademark application.
Oh, yeah.
The one for user programmable humanoid robots.
That's the one.
It definitely makes you think they're planning on entering the market themselves, but the
question is how will they approach it?
Right.
Will they try to go head to head with figure and Tesla building those general purpose robots,
or will they focus on something more specific, a niche?
It's hard to say, but I feel like they could use their expertise in that whole natural
language processing area.
Oh, that makes sense.
Building robots that are really good at communicating and interacting.
Yeah.
Building a robot that can not only do tasks, but also have a real conversation, build relationships,
that sort of thing.
Now, that would be a game changer, especially in fields like healthcare, education, maybe
even customer service.
It would really set them apart from the others.
The company's focused on the physical stuff, the robots that can lift heavy things and
move around.
Absolutely.
But there's also the hardware side to think about.
Will open AI build their robots themselves from scratch?
Or will they partner with some of those hardware companies that are already out there?
Because partnering, that would give them access to a lot of expertise and those manufacturing
capabilities.
That would help them get their product out there faster.
But they'd also have less control, wouldn't they, over the design and how the robots actually
work.
Yeah.
It's that classic trade-off, control versus collaboration.
Just like figure's decision to go solo and speaking of which, remember how open AI has
been investing in other robotics companies?
Oh, yeah.
So, the Norwegian startup, One X Technologies, they're developing a humanoid robot for home
use.
Exactly.
So, even if they don't go head to head with figure and Tesla in the market for the industrial
robots and stuff, they're still influencing things through investments and partnership.
It's like a multi-pronged approach.
It really is.
They're playing a long game.
It's exciting to see how this all plays out.
We've got figure, Tesla, open AI, all these companies with their own ideas about the future.
It really highlights how dynamic this field is, how much is changing so quickly, and the
impact it's going to have on the world.
Yeah.
We've talked a lot about the companies, the tech, the competition, but we can't forget
about the human element.
How will this affect us?
Our jobs, our lives, our relationships with technology?
That's the big question, isn't it?
It's not just a question for engineers and tech CEOs to answer.
It's for all of us.
We all need to be part of this conversation.
Thinking about the ethical side of things, how this will change society, the future we're
creating.
We have a responsibility to shape that future.
Couldn't agree more.
It's a lot to think about, for sure, but I think it's time to wrap up this deep dive
for now.
Yeah, this is a conversation that's just getting started.
Definitely.
The world of AI and robotics is changing so fast, and we'll be here to guide you every
step of the way, so stay tuned.
Keep those brains engaged.
Join us next time as we dive into more of this fascinating world of emerging technologies.
Absolutely.
Until then, keep exploring, keep questioning, keep imagining.
Who knows what's just around the corner?
The future is ours to create.