Figure AI, an American robotics company, completed a $675 million Series B funding round in February 2024, valuing the company at $2.6 billion. The round was led by a consortium of prominent technology investors and marked a significant milestone in the development of general-purpose humanoid robots. The funding was intended to accelerate the deployment of Figure AI's robots in commercial settings, particularly in logistics and manufacturing.
The investment round included contributions from high-profile individuals and corporations. Jeff Bezos, through his investment vehicle, participated, as did Microsoft, Nvidia, and Intel. The venture capital arms of Amazon and OpenAI also joined the round, alongside other investors. This broad backing underscored the growing interest in artificial intelligence and robotics, with Figure AI positioning itself as a leader in the field. The company's founder, Brett Adcock, had previously invested $20 million in an earlier round, demonstrating his commitment to the venture.
Background and Founding
Figure AI was founded in 2022 by Brett Adcock, an entrepreneur known for founding other ventures such as Archer Aviation, Vettery, and Hark. The company's mission was to develop humanoid robots that could operate safely and effectively in environments designed for humans, addressing labor shortages in industries like warehousing and manufacturing. In 2022, Figure AI introduced its first prototype, Figure 01, a bipedal robot designed for manual labor tasks. The initial model featured external cabling for easier maintenance, targeting logistics and warehousing sectors as its primary market.
In May 2023, Figure AI raised $70 million in funding from investors including Adcock, who contributed $20 million, and Parkway Venture Capital. This early capital allowed the company to refine its technology and expand its team. By January 2024, Figure AI announced a partnership with BMW to deploy humanoid robots in automotive manufacturing facilities, signaling a move toward real-world industrial applications.
The $675 Million Series B
The February 2024 funding round was a pivotal event for Figure AI. The $675 million raised was among the largest for a robotics startup at the time, reflecting investor confidence in the company's technology and market potential. The valuation of $2.6 billion placed Figure AI among the most valuable private companies in the robotics sector. The round's participants included not only strategic investors like Microsoft and Nvidia but also venture arms of Amazon and OpenAI, indicating a broad interest in integrating AI with physical robotics.
This funding enabled Figure AI to accelerate its research and development efforts. The company announced a partnership with OpenAI to build specialized AI models for its humanoid robots, enabling them to process language and interact more naturally with humans. This collaboration was part of a broader trend where large language models were being integrated into physical systems, a key area of focus in generative AI.
Technological Advancements
Following the funding, Figure AI made significant technological strides. In August 2024, the company introduced Figure 02, a more advanced humanoid robot designed for industrial use. Figure 02 featured five-fingered hands with 16 degrees of freedom (DOF) and the ability to carry up to 25 kilograms (55 pounds). The robot had cabling integrated into its limbs, a torso-placed battery, six RGB cameras, and an onboard vision-language-action (VLA) model. It boasted three times the computing power of its predecessor, including two graphics processing units supported by Nvidia. Microphones, speakers, and custom AI models developed with OpenAI enabled communication with humans.
In early 2025, Figure AI announced BotQ, a manufacturing facility aimed at producing 12,000 humanoids per year with the help of its own robots. The company also introduced Helix, a VLA model that could control up to two robots at once, allowing them to interact with the world without extensive manual training. Helix enabled robots to pick up nearly any small household object, a significant step toward domestic applications.
Partnerships and Collaborations
The partnership with OpenAI was a notable aspect of Figure AI's strategy. The collaboration aimed to develop AI models that could process language and enable robots to understand and execute complex commands. However, the partnership ended after a year, with Adcock stating that large language models had become a smaller problem compared to those allowing for "high rate robot control." This shift highlighted the evolving challenges in robotics, where real-time control and physical interaction are as critical as language understanding.
Figure AI also maintained relationships with other technology companies. Nvidia provided GPUs and computing support, while Microsoft and Intel were involved as investors. The company's collaboration with BMW in January 2024 was an early example of deploying humanoid robots in automotive manufacturing, a sector with high potential for automation.
Funding and Valuation Growth
The February 2024 round was not the last for Figure AI. In September 2025, the company raised a third round of financing exceeding $1 billion, increasing its total valuation to $39 billion. Investors in this round included Brookfield Asset Management, Intel, Macquarie Capital, Nvidia, Parkway Venture Capital, Qualcomm, Salesforce, and T-Mobile. This rapid valuation growth reflected the company's progress and the increasing demand for humanoid robots.
By late 2025, Figure AI had developed three generations of humanoid robots (Figure 01-03) and two iterations of its Helix model (Helix 01-02). The robots demonstrated potential ability to perform household work, and the company gained publicity when a Figure 03 appeared at a White House event in March 2026, with U.S. First Lady Melania Trump promoting the potential of AI to teach children.
Product Evolution and Market Impact
In October 2025, Figure AI introduced Figure 03, a 5.5-foot-tall robot with 60 total DOF, including 20 for each hand. The robot featured an upgraded camera system with twice the frame rate, a quarter the latency, and a 60% wider field of view, plus cameras in each hand. Tactile sensors in the fingertips could detect forces as little as 3 grams. It incorporated soft materials and a protected battery for safety, as well as removable, washable textiles, and supported wireless inductive charging.
By early 2026, Figure 02 had been used in demonstrations showing it could load a washing machine, sort packages, and fold laundry. In January 2026, Helix 02 was released, expanding the AI model to the entire body for functional autonomy. A Helix 02-powered Figure 02 was shown capable of loading and unloading a dishwasher, based on hours of motion-capture data and simulation-based machine learning.
By April 2026, Figure AI had delivered over 350 Figure 03 models and increased production output to one robot every hour. In May 2026, Adcock stated the company would soon lease the robot for domestic use for around $600 a month and announced that the Figure 04 design had been locked. A group of Figure 03 robots was livestreamed processing packages for almost a full week, inspiring a 10-hour competition between their product and a person; the robot performed 98.5% as well as the human.
Challenges and Controversies
Despite its successes, Figure AI faced challenges. In November 2025, the former head of product safety sued the company, claiming he was fired for raising concerns that the robots were strong enough to fracture a human skull. This lawsuit highlighted safety and ethical considerations in the deployment of powerful humanoid robots.
In April 2025, the company issued cease-and-desist letters to at least two secondary brokers promoting its private stock without authorization, indicating issues with secondary market trading. By late August 2026, Figure AI launched a gig economy platform called Index to capture work data from humans wearing sensors, expected to cost $1 billion over the next year. The next month, the company announced it would spend upwards of $3.5 billion on Nvidia GPUs by the next year, underscoring its heavy investment in computing infrastructure.
Conclusion
The $675 million funding round in February 2024 was a catalyst for Figure AI's growth, enabling it to advance its technology, expand production, and secure a leading position in the humanoid robotics market. The company's journey from a startup to a $39 billion valuation by late 2025 illustrates the rapid pace of innovation in AI and robotics. As Figure AI continues to develop more capable robots and expand into domestic and industrial applications, its impact on the workforce and society is likely to grow, raising important questions about the future of human-robot interaction.