Intel Capital Invests in Figure, a Humanid Robotics Company

[TheLostSwede]

Figure, an AI Robotics company building general purpose humanoid robots, today announced a $9 million equity investment made by Intel Capital. This funding from Intel Capital helps strengthen Figure's balance sheet and will accelerate the development of Figure 01 (the company's autonomous humanoid robot), build out Figure's AI data pipeline for autonomous operations, and drive the Company towards commercialization. This announcement follows the Company's most recent achievement of the Figure 01 robot taking its first steps.

Intel Capital is a notable addition to Figure's Series A funding round and is joining other top-tier investors such as Parkway Venture Capital, Brett Adcock, Aliya Capital, Bold Capital Partners, Tamarack Global, FJ labs, and former KUKA Robotics CEO Till Reuter.




In addition to this capital investment, Figure 01 entered the testing phase a few months ago and reached many technical milestones led by a best-in-class engineering team. Most notably, the robot took its first walking steps in May - less than one year from the Company's inception. This is a momentous achievement for Figure and is one of the quickest turnarounds in humanoid history.

"Intel Capital is at the forefront of making big, bold frontier bets and we are excited to share the same vision of a better future," said Brett Adcock, Founder and CEO of Figure. "This investment along with the global resources and expertise of the Intel team will help accelerate the growth and success of Figure."

"Intel Capital is constantly searching for companies that push the boundaries of innovation, and we believe that Figure has the potential to shift the way the world thinks about artificial intelligence," said Mark Lydon, Managing Director at Intel Capital. "Figure's focus on enhancing the labor economy is an essential part of our future, and we look forward to being at the forefront to support humanoid development."

View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[Space Lynx]

Very smart of Intel, robotics is the future imo

 

[ZoneDymo]

Very smart of Intel, robotics is the future imo

I mean future? its currently already widespread in use, just look at how cars are assembled.
The difference here is yet another one of those that needs to look like a human being....and that future....seems like a poor investment.

 

[Space Lynx]

I mean future? its currently already widespread in use, just look at how cars are assembled.
The difference here is yet another one of those that needs to look like a human being....and that future....seems like a poor investment.

it's not nearly in use as much as it should be. robotics should be picking the crops, robots should be installing the solar panel fields and charging themselves, lifting boxes at all warehouses, planting the seeds for the fields, robotics and AI literally could do everything, its not there yet, but we are getting close. I hope it does come, we are going to need all the help we can get with what is coming...

 

[Denver]

it's not nearly in use as much as it should be. robotics should be picking the crops, robots should be installing the solar panel fields and charging themselves, lifting boxes at all warehouses, planting the seeds for the fields, robotics and AI literally could do everything, its not there yet, but we are getting close. I hope it does come, we are going to need all the help we can get with what is coming...

Sorry, that's the stupidest thing I've ever read in my entire life.

Do you expect AI to replace you and will it help you? If AI and automation is actually used effectively to replace people wherever possible, money will stop flowing and the economy will become increasingly funneled into the hands of a 5-10% and the rest will either die or depend. of government credits/money which is the same or worse than dying.

 

[Space Lynx]

Sorry, that's the stupidest thing I've ever read in my entire life.

Do you expect AI to replace you and will it help you? If AI and automation is actually used effectively to replace people wherever possible, money will stop flowing and the economy will become increasingly funneled into the hands of a 5-10% and the rest will either die or depend. of government credits/money which is the same or worse than dying.

You are very short sighted. That is a shame.

 

[ZoneDymo]

it's not nearly in use as much as it should be. robotics should be picking the crops, robots should be installing the solar panel fields and charging themselves, lifting boxes at all warehouses, planting the seeds for the fields, robotics and AI literally could do everything, its not there yet, but we are getting close. I hope it does come, we are going to need all the help we can get with what is coming...

Not entirely my point, my point is that Intel is investing in (yet another) humanoid robot, thinking that robots in human form is what we need, as if the human shape is the most excellent at doing tasks.....well it isnt.

All that farming equipment to, as you say, pick crops, they have wheels and big containers for whatever they pick, and large pincers etc, nothing humanoid.

That is my problem, this is such a silly future vision to invest in...AI for robotics like those that put cars together, sure, but a walking talking man-bot....yeah no.

 

[Space Lynx]

Not entirely my point, my point is that Intel is investing in (yet another) humanoid robot, thinking that robots in human form is what we need, as if the human shape is the most excellent at doing tasks.....well it isnt.

All that farming equipment to, as you say, pick crops, they have wheels and big containers for whatever they pick, and large pincers etc, nothing humanoid.

That is my problem, this is such a silly future vision to invest in...AI for robotics like those that put cars together, sure, but a walking talking man-bot....yeah no.

It's not just the humanoid aspect when a company invests in another company like this, its the access to all of the data that is key. I am sure Intel isn't solely focused on the humanoid aspect, more so the brainpower of the team that comes with such an investment.

The world is changing very fast, the fact a single country like the Ukraine can dramatically raise crop prices around the entire world is alarming. We need the capability of mobility farming, so if an area becomes war torn, drought hits, storms hit, entire massive crop areas destroyed... we will need the ability in the future to be able to launch robots to go planting and harvesting in other areas to make up for such disasters, 8 billion humans is not sustainable unless we embrace robotics... tumultuous times await us.

 

[dragontamer5788]

it's not nearly in use as much as it should be. robotics should be picking the crops, robots should be installing the solar panel fields and charging themselves, lifting boxes at all warehouses, planting the seeds for the fields, robotics and AI literally could do everything, its not there yet, but we are getting close. I hope it does come, we are going to need all the help we can get with what is coming...

Robots that are picking crops:

Robots lifting boxes:

Robots that are planting crops:

None of these look like humans because human shapes are very, very inefficient at doing these jobs.

------------

The only time I ever heard of autonomous human-shapes being useful is in Hollywood robots, who need human-shaped robots to pretend to be humans for various films.

 

[Denver]

Robots that are picking crops:

Robots lifting boxes:

Robots that are planting crops:

None of these look like humans because human shapes are very, very inefficient at doing these jobs.

------------

The only time I ever heard of autonomous human-shapes being useful is in Hollywood robots, who need human-shaped robots to pretend to be humans for various films.

Some of the reasons for the food inflation, in addition to the overclocked money printing machine, were problems in the fertilizer chain for the main and most efficient food producing countries.