Figure AI ships Figure 02 humanoid robots to a paying customer

By Eugene Demaitre | December 29, 2024

Humanoid robots are starting to move from development and trials to commercial use. Figure AI Inc. this month announced that it has delivered its Figure 02 systems to a customer.

“Exciting news — today, Figure officially became a revenue-generating company!” Brett Adcock, founder and CEO of Figure AI, posted to LinkedIn. “This week, we delivered F.02 humanoid robots to our commercial client, & they’re currently hard at work.”

Figure 02 continues fast pace

Figure AI won a 2024 RBR50 award for its rapid pace of innovation. Since emerging from stealth in January 2023, the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company has built and iterated on a working humanoid and tested its robot on a production line.

“It marks 31 months from filing our C-Corp to getting to humanoid robot revenue,” wrote Adcock, who was a guest on The Robot Report Podcast.

In May 2023, Figure AI raised $70 million in Series A funding, and that July, Intel Capital invested in the company. In February 2024, Figure closed its Series B round of $675 million.

The Figure 01 humanoid took its first public steps in October 2023, and the fully redesigned, sleeker Figure 02 debuted in August 2024. In addition, Figure AI has partnered with OpenAI, which recently restarted its own robotics research group, on speech-to-speech communications with humans.

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Humanoids take steps toward commercial use

Over the past two years, the number of companies working on humanoids has grown, as has the supporting ecosystem of software and artificial intelligence for locomotion, navigation, and dexterous manipulation. However, only a few have moved into pilots and commercialization.

In August 2024, Figure AI said that BMW Group had tested Figure 02 for handling fitted sheet-metal parts on its automotive production line for two weeks in Spartanburg, S.C. BMW had previously tested Figure 01.

Adcock did not name Figure AI’s commercial client. The Robot Report will add information as it becomes available.

Other companies besides Figure that have had commercial trials of humanoid robots include Agility Robotics, Apptronik, Boston Dynamics, and Tesla. Their systems are being tested in manufacturing and warehouse settings by Amazon, GXO Logistics, Mercedes-Benz, and Schaeffler.

The global market for humanoid robots could experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 96% between 2022 and 2030, reaching $6.8 billion, according to ABI Research. It noted that the number of units shipped could grow from 1,000 in 2025 to 182,000 by 2030.

However, use cases, safety standards, and pricing models are still being defined. Gartner Inc. has put humanoids at the beginning of its latest “hype cycle” for mobile robots and drones.