The CEO of the $39B humanoid startup Figure AI has reportedly launched a new artificial intelligence lab called Hark with $100 million of his own capital.
Citing an internal memo sent to Figure employees and investors, The Information reported that Adcock intends to build “human-centric” AI systems that “think proactively, recursively, improve, and care deeply about people.” According to the report by Stephanie Palazzolo, the new lab’s compute cluster went live earlier this week, though its size and scale remain undisclosed.
Adcock has hinted about broader AI ambitions. He recently shared a job listing on social media seeking a so-called Head of Capital Formation reporting directly into him to lead upcoming fundraising drives. In July 2025, he said he was hiring two “hardcore recruiters for a special project” working directly with the billionaire founder. He said he was offering “top-of-market pay” for the ability to “source the toughest-to-find talent.”
The 39-year-old serial entrepreneur founded San Jose-based Figure AI in 2022 as the humanoid robotics market was starting to heat up. The startup likely has the largest war chest in the sector after raising more than $1 billion in 2025 for a staggering valuation of $39 billion. Before launching Figure, Adcock founded the data-driven online recruiting marketplace Vettery, which he sold to Adecco for $100 million, and Archer Aviation, an eVTOL aircraft startup that went public via a SPAC merger in 2021.
Figure AI has been aggressively collecting real-world data to feed its in-house vision-language-action (VLA) model called Helix as it targets 100,000 units shipped by 2029. The startup initially focused on industrial applications but has since expanded its scope to household and service roles. It’s unclear when Figure plans to start selling its humanoids, though Adcock has said he insists on full autonomy before mass deployments.
The Information reported that Adcock will serve as CEO of both Figure and Hark. He hasn’t said he plans to sell Figure’s data, but launching a $100 million AI lab strongly suggests he’s angling to monetize embodied-robot data and training insights beyond Figure’s own humanoids.
It’s worth noting that Adcock’s brother, Colby, runs the defense-focused startup Scout AI. Launched in August 2024, the Sunnyvale-based firm is building a foundational AI model to turn unmanned military systems into intelligent autonomous agents.
The startup emerged from stealth in April 2025 with at least $15 million in seed funding and later announced it had been selected for the US Army’s unmanned systems autonomy program that carries a potential value of up to $100 million. Scout says it’s building its Fury VLA model to perceive the physical world, interpret natural language, and command robotic vehicles across domains.