In a bold move that could redefine the boundaries of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, Facebook’s parent company, Meta Platforms, has announced that it is making a “major investment” in AI-driven humanoid robots.
This marks a significant shift for the tech giant, best known for its dominance in social media and virtual and augmented reality. It signals its ambition to bring AI into the physical world.
According to an internal company memo viewed by Bloomberg on Friday, Reality Labs, best known for developing Meta’s AR/VR technologies, will now house a new specialized team within its hardware division focused on building AI-powered humanoid robots, initially concentrating on household chores.
“Meta plans to work on its own humanoid robot hardware, with an initial focus on household chores. Its bigger ambition is to make the underlying AI, sensors and software for robots that will be manufactured and sold by a range of companies, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the initiative hasn’t been announced,” Bloomberg wrote in its report.
“Meta has started discussing its plan with robotics companies, including Unitree Robotics and Figure AI Inc.”
“The core technologies we’ve already invested in and built across Reality Labs and AI are complementary to developing the advancements needed for robotics. We believe that expanding our portfolio to invest in this field will only accrue value to Meta AI and our mixed and augmented reality programs,” wrote Andrew Bosworth, Meta’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO), in a memo that Bloomberg reviewed.
This new division will be headed by Marc Whitten, the former CEO of self-driving car company Cruise, whom Meta has hired as Vice President of Robotics.
Bosworth also announced the appointment of John Koryl, the former CEO of the second-hand e-commerce platform The RealReal, as Meta’s Vice President of retail.
The Bloomberg report added that the new team will be looking to hire around 100 engineers across 2025 for the project.
Meta’s ambitions put it in direct competition with other tech giants, including Tesla, which has been developing the Optimus humanoid robot, and Boston Dynamics, a leader in agile robotics.
With its vast AI resources and experience in machine learning, Meta could become a key player in shaping the next generation of intelligent machines.
The investment follows Meta’s previous advancements in AI, such as LLaMA (Large Language Model Meta AI) – a family of advanced language models developed by the company for a wide range of natural language processing tasks.
Whether Meta’s new vision materializes in the near future remains to be seen, but one thing is clear—the tech giant is betting big on bringing AI to life in a whole new way.
