Robotics startup Figure AI drops OpenAI because LLMs are 'getting smarter yet more commoditized'

Robotics startup Figure AI drops OpenAI partnership to build its own AI models

Figure AI, a startup developing humanoid robots, announced Tuesday it's ending its partnership with OpenAI and will develop its own AI models instead.

According to founder Brett Adcock, the company plans to stop using OpenAI's multimodal AI models for its robots' vision and speech capabilities.

The company plans to show off new capabilities within the next 30 days that Adcock claims will be unlike anything seen before in humanoid robotics, though he didn't provide specifics.

Building from the ground up

Adcock says the split comes down to integration challenges. "We found that to solve embodied AI at scale in the real world, you have to vertically integrate robot AI," he told TechCrunch. "We can’t outsource AI for the same reason we can’t outsource our hardware."

The move is surprising, given that OpenAI is not only a technology partner, but also a major investor in Figure AI. The startup raised $675 million in funding early last year, giving it a valuation of $2.6 billion.

Figure AI's current focus remains on industrial applications. BMW has already committed to using Figure robots at its South Carolina plant. The company's latest model, Figure 02, was equipped with OpenAI models that enhanced its speech abilities and camera system.

The timing of this split might not be coincidental. While OpenAI shut down its robotics division in October 2020 to concentrate on language models, it's now rebuilding its robotics team with plans to develop hardware - potentially setting up a competitive dynamic with Figure AI.