Silicon Valley’s most watched humanoid robotics firm is back with its most advanced fake human yet.
Backed by billions, the aspiring tech giant is racing to put 100,000 robots into homes and workplaces by the time the next US president is sworn in. Launched just three years ago, Figure AI is rushing into the mainstream alongside Western rivals like Tesla and 1X Technologies as its humanoid revolution becomes a political flashpoint.
Amid an intense technological arms race with China, Figure’s home state’s new artificial intelligence regulations could throw hurdles in its way before a single sale is made. Still, Figure exudes confidence under the leadership of a founder who openly says he’s aiming to build the biggest company the world has ever seen.
Figure AI’s Ambitious Plans
After months of anticipation, the well backed startup Figure just unveiled its most advanced humanoid robot yet, the Figure 03. The robotics firm launched the third-generation humanoid with a 6-minute video showing it take on domestic, service, and logistics tasks. According to Figure, all of the actions in the footage are 100 percent autonomous, not teleoperated.
Figure is pushing its humanoids onto humanity after recently securing more than $1 billion in a Series C fundraising round. Valued at a staggering $39 billion, the company is still aggressively raising funds.
The founder recently posted a job listing for a so-called Head of Capital Formation to lead upcoming drives. The listing calls for a dealmaker who can independently source, structure, and close investments. Figure is offering a base salary between $350K and $650K.
“My companies have raised $4 billion in the last 5 years. It’s now time to re-accelerate,” Adcock said on social media. “Today, I am assembling a Capital Formation team. This team will raise tens of billions to bring sci-fi into the present, reporting directly to me.”
The robotics firm emerged from stealth in early 2023 with conceptual renders and early motion tests of its first prototype, the Figure 01.
The humanoid robotics race was picking up steam at the time but was nowhere near as competitive as today:
- Tesla had shown Optimus walking independently in late 2022 but was still very clearly a prototype.
- The Chinese firm Unitree Robotics revealed its first humanoid robot, the H1, in December 2022. The fully electric humanoid impressed with its balance, running, and acrobatic capabilities, but it still lacked the perception and dexterous manipulation needed for practical deployment.
- The original hydraulic Atlas by Boston Dynamics was still going viral with lab demos but nowhere near commercial viability. It had about a year left in the spotlight before the leading Massachusetts robotics firm pivoted toward a fully electric design.
- Oregon-based Agility Robotics was the most commercially mature humanoid player at the time. Its flagship humanoid, Digit, was already being piloted with Amazon for warehouse logistics.
Built for Helix AI
Earlier this year, Figure introduced its self-developed Helix vision-language-action model (VLA), as it severed ties with OpenAI. The company said its proprietary model is built specifically to give humanoid robots reasoning skills that could not be unlocked with large language models like ChatGPT.
In the leadup to the third-gen bot’s launch, the founder made bold claims, calling the autonomous humanoid a game changer.
“What I’m seeing at Figure looks straight out of a sci-fi movie,” Adcock wrote on X. “What’s coming feels like the year 2050.”
According to Adcock, Figure’s second-generation robots have been working 10-hour shifts every day for five months straight at the BMW Spartanburg plant in South Carolina. At the luxury automaker’s largest factory by volume, the robots are reportedly working on an X3 body shop production line. They’re doing extremely tedious work, picking up metal parts and loading them onto a fixture to prepare them for welding. Figure’s robots are also reportedly working for an unnamed logistics company.
Figure says its new humanoid features a ground up redesign built around the Helix model. Its marketing video emphasizes household applications, introducing the new flagship robot at a luxurious home in California, quite possibly owned by Figure’s billionaire founder.
Figure 03 Specs
Standing 168 cm (5 feet 6 inches), the Figure 03 is said to be 9 percent lighter than its predecessor at 60 kg (132 lbs). Its payload capacity is reported at 20 kg (44 lbs), about the weight of a packed suitcase, a small microwave oven, or a medium-sized dog.
The Figure 03 offers a runtime of 5 hours per charge and supports inductive wireless charging. The robot’s sensors and dexterous hand were rebuilt to feed Helix with dense, low latency data. Figure says its upgraded actuators and compliant robotic hands double its speed, and can handle everything from sheet metal to soft packaging.
Its cameras now deliver double the frame rate, a quarter of the latency, and a 60 percent wider view. Improved depth perception means sharper vision in cluttered spaces.
Each hand now contains palm cameras for close range feedback and cutting-edge tactile sensors. Their fingertips can now sense pressure as light as three grams, which is delicate enough to feel a paperclip. Figure says Helix can detect an object slipping before it falls and make real time adjustments.
The robot is wrapped in soft, woven textile coverings designed to protect users and give it a more approachable appearance. According to Figure, its soft goods are washable, swappable, and customizable.
Its audio system is also brand new, with a speaker twice the size and four times more powerful than the Figure 02’s, and a repositioned microphone for clearer conversations.
Figure 03 vs. 1X Neo
The aesthetics immediately drew comparisons to 1X Tech’s Neo Gamma humanoid robot introduced earlier in 2025. 1X founder Bernt Bornich even called it out on social media, saying imitation is the sinceerest form of flattery.
The Neo humanoid, which has started limited testing in real homes, is a few centimeters shorter than the Figure 03 at 165 cm (5 feet 4 inches). It’s more than 40 percent lighter at just 35 kg (77 lbs) and has a similar reported payload capacity around 20 kg (44 lbs).
In the past, Figure’s founder has been critical of 1X, which was founded in Norway in 2014 and is now headquartered in Palo Alto. When 1X announced Neo Gamma earlier this year, Adcock refused to feature it in his weekly AI and robotics round up on X and Threads
The Neo Gamma’s launch video did not claim autonomy and founder Bornich said at the time it was operating with a mix of teleoperation and AI. The feud intensified as Adcock announced he was accelerating his firm’s push to get humanoids into homes. Figure initially focused on industrial applications, but the founder said the startup’s Helix model gave him confidence that robots are ready for domestic settings as well.
Aggressive Data Collection
In a new interview with Time, Adcock acknowledged that the Figure 03 sometimes still fails at simple tasks but said data will fix most of the issues.
Figure recently announced a strategic partnership with Brookfield to tap into the major real estate firm’s portfolio of more than 100,000 residential units and vast commercial, logistics, and office spaces. Under the agreement, Figure will collect egocentric human video data in real world properties to build a massive, diverse dataset to feed its Helix brain.
The companies say they’re planning to also collaborate on infrastructure, training facilities, and eventual humanoid deployment into Brookfield’s property holdings. Adcock’s thinking connects how large language models evolved through scale, suggesting the same principle applies to robotics. He notes that Figure is spending heavily to record humans performing everyday chores so the machines can learn by imitation.
In the interview, Adcock said Figure’s goal is to get humanoid robots into homes worldwide. Though he admitted the Figure 03 isn’t ready for the masses yet. He said Figure now employs dedicated leads for system safety and cybersecurity to prepare deployment into North American homes before expanding globally.
He described his long-term vision as a world where billions of humanoids work alongside people, handling physical labor as automation reshapes the economy. While he views this as exciting rather than dystopian, he acknowledged there are big unanswered economic and ethical questions. He suggested solutions like universal basic income (UBI) could offset the negative effects of mass job losses.
Political Flashpoint
Figure is racing to deploy 100,000 autonomous humanoids within the next four years as the debate over AI and robotics quickly splits into two competing future visions.
Tech leaders like Elon Musk have described a coming era of abundance, where humanlike robots and artificial intelligence eliminate scarcity. In this world, humans live richer and freer lives without required physical labor. In the other camp, figures like US Senator Bernie Sanders warn that the same technologies could trigger mass job losses and deepen inequality unless society reigns them in.
The prevailing Republican view right now is that the US must win the global technology arms race. President Trump is pretty much all in on AI and robotics. He’s signed executive orders removing barriers to deployment and accelerating data center and infrastructure build outs.
The GOP’s enthusiasm is mixed with concern about how automation might displace jobs, though solutions tend to focus less on regulation and more on retraining, incentives, and market driven adaptation.
In California, sweeping new regulations could pose fresh hurdles for Figure. Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, seen as a potential 2028 presidential contender, recently signed the Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act. It requires companies developing advanced models to disclose safety frameworks, report critical incidents, and publish risk mitigation plans.
For Figure, that likely means new layers of compliance before it can deploy robots at scale. Additional state rules taking effect imminently regulate automated decision-making technology, requiring companies to disclose how intelligent systems make consumer-facing choices and to offer opt-outs and logic explanations. That could eventually apply to humanoids making autonomous decisions in homes and workplaces.
So far, Figure has largely avoided the partisan politics fray but that may not be long lasting.
Adcock has openly said he believes Figure could become the biggest company in the world. As it begins pushing its robots into real-world settings, its influence and scrutiny will inevitably grow.
Designed or Made in California?
If Figure succeeds in scaling its so-called BotQ manufacturing plant and deploying smart machines across homes and industries, it will move from a hardware innovator to a central player in global automation. It could mean being called to adhoc meetings with the president alongside heavyweights from Meta, OpenAI, Apple, Microsoft and Google.
Figure says its San Jose factory can scale to 12,000 per year. It’s unclear how many robots Figure has manufactured so far in 2025, but Addcock recently boasted his team produced its 100th battery.
The Figure 03 rollout has some mixed messaging.
In the CGI trailer, the Figure 03 robot’s torso bears the phrase: “Designed in California.” In a version on Figure’s homepage, it reads Made in California.
In the 6-minute intro video released two days later, it reads Made in California. The difference between the words “designed” and “made” carries major weight in this context.
When a product says “Designed in California,” like Apple’s iPhones and laptops, it implies its innovation, engineering, and aesthetics come from the US but the actual manufacturing happens elsewhere. “Made in California” suggests that both the design and manufacturing take place locally under the same roof.
The FTC sets a high bar for using boasts like Made in California or Made in USA and California makes it even tougher. Under the federal government’s labeling rule, a product can only make the claim if all or virtually all of its components are made and assembled stateside, with no significant foreign parts or processing.
California state law prohibits labeling a product as Made in California if any major components come from outside the country. The fact that the Figure robot isn’t yet for sale does not exempt it.
Figure said it redesigned nearly every part of its flagship humanoid for its third major iteration, which is specifically designed for high-rate manufacturing. While the Figure 02 was built mainly through CNC machining, its successor adopts die casting and injection molding for mass production.
Figure says it overhauled its supply chain to support mass production. It builds key components like actuators, batteries, sensors, structures, and electronics in-house. For parts that can’t be produced locally, the company says it’s partnered with specialized suppliers that can meet strict quality standards and volume requirements.
Intense Competition
Despite its sizable war chest, Figure faces an uphill battle as it competes with established manufacturers like Tesla and Chinese firms like UBTECH Robotics. The Shenzhen-based company has recently closed some historic deals as its industrial humanoids gain market share in the Global South.