Humanoid Robots Work the BMW Factory Floor

A humanoid robot has been spotted working the factory floor at a BMW manufacturing plant, seven months after the automaker announced a partnership with AI robotics company Figure. 

In January, California-based Figure AI confirmed it agreed to a deal where the German automaker would use its general-purpose robots in car manufacturing.

And according to a newly released video, it is underway. 

The video shows the robot handling parts in a BMW factory. Its abilities are driven by neural networks mapping pixels directly to actions. The robot then uses neural network learned placement to place a part where required. 

The Figure 01 humanoid robot’s capabilities have been rapidly expanding this year. 

In April, the company announced that Figure 01 could have full conversations with people thanks to OpenAI models providing high-level visual and language intelligence. 

In January, Figure shared a video that highlighted an idea of the capabilities of its 01 robot. The video demonstrated how using AI end-to-end neural networks, Figure was able to train the robot to make a cup of coffee in 10 hours, with the added capability of self-correcting mistakes.

In February, Jeff Bezos’ Explore Investments and Nvidia joined Microsoft, Amazon and other investors in backing Figure AI. The company also announced $675 million in series B funding, reaching a $2.6 billion valuation.

Related:Humanoid Robots to Help Build BMWs