Tech billionaires such as Jeff Bezos are exploring the realm of humanoid robots in an effort to find new uses for artificial intelligence.
According to The Times, a firm in this space like Figure AI Inc, is raising a healthy $675 million and is valued at almost $2 billion. Backed by major players including Microsoft Corp., Bezos’ Explore Investments LLC and OpenAI, Bloomberg first reported this news.
Leading the charge with a $100 million commitment is Jeff Bezos, followed by Microsoft at $95 million, Nvidia and Amazon.com Inc at $50 million.
The program highlights the industry’s joint efforts to achieve ground-breaking breakthroughs in AI and robotics.
Robots have become more important in the AI sector as a result of technical advancements, acting as conduits for cutting-edge technology to solve real-world problems.
Engineers at Figure are creating Figure 01, a humanoid robot that mimics the look and gait of a human.
OpenAI, which had been in talks to buy Figure, is now investing $5 million in the business.
These internet behemoths’ involvement made it possible for Figure to receive money that increased from the $500 million that was originally requested to an astounding $675 million. Figure and the investors’ representatives have remained silent, and it is anticipated that the specifics will be resolved by Monday.
The capital that is being raised is not included in the anticipated pre-money valuation, which is around $2 billion. May of last year saw Parkway spearhead a $70 million investment in Figure at an earlier fundraising round. CEO Brett Adcock stated that Figure wants to be the first company to produce a humanoid robot that can be sold for a profit.
Recently, there has been movement in the AI robotics space. 1X Technologies AS, supported by OpenAI, secured $100 million, Sanctuary AI developed the humanoid robot Phoenix, and Tesla is building the Optimus robot.
Agility Robotics, backed by Amazon, is testing bots in its warehouses, demonstrating the dynamic nature of this technology field.
With a net worth estimated at $197.1 billion, Jeff Bezos, the second-richest person in the world, has continued to make strategic investments after leaving his position as CEO of Amazon.
