Meta Platforms Inc. is planning to invest heavily in developing AI-driven humanoid robots. An internal memo outlines the company’s commitment to advancing artificial intelligence and robotics in the coming years.
NEW: Separately, Meta is hiring a VP of Retail for its hardware division with an eye on boosting retail sales of the Quest, Ray-Ban smart glasses and AI wearables. Scoop with @rileyraygriffin https://t.co/hvuCquKqEX
— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) February 14, 2025
Meta wants to use its research and development resources to create humanoid robots. These robots could potentially transform industries like manufacturing and healthcare. The company has already made progress in areas such as machine learning and computer vision.
Can we design a simultaneous estimator & controller for tool manipulation for partially unknown objects? Our work, during my internship @merl_news , has been featured on @IEEESpectrum Video Friday!https://t.co/pPEzVLX6T1
— Yuki Shirai (@Yuki_Doradora) February 14, 2025
META AI’s latest project aims to revolutionize human-robot interaction. The project studies multi-agent reasoning and planning. It includes a large-scale benchmark dataset and a robust planning model.
Robotics + AI = a huge business at some point. Household chores is a smart place to start -> Meta plans major investment in AI-powered humanoid robots, with an initial focus on household chores, and has formed a new team within Reality Labs https://t.co/zINdZD6Ixq
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) February 15, 2025
The goal is to encourage further research and innovation in human-robot collaboration. One notable video features Humanoid, a pioneering AI and robotics company in the UK. They are creating commercially scalable and safe humanoid robots for various applications.
Meta focuses on AI humanoid advancement
Humanoid’s MenteeBot V3.0 is a fully vertically integrated humanoid robot. It showcases full-stack AI and proprietary hardware.
Researchers have also designed soft robotic burrowers inspired by biological organisms. These organisms burrow in granular media using specialized mechanisms. There are grand challenges in improving the efficacy of these robots.
However, the potential applications in exploring unstructured environments are immense. Meta has hired John Koryl to boost its retail sales channels for Quest headsets, smart glasses, and other artificial intelligence wearables. Koryl will be joining Meta as vice president of retail, reporting directly to Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth.
“It’s no secret that products like Quest, Ray-Ban Meta, and AI wearables require a different kind of customer experience beyond the standard retail offerings,” Bosworth stated in the memo. “We see an opportunity to build more direct expertise in the space and then share what we have learned with all of our retail partners who will continue to drive the bulk of our sales volume.”
Meta introduced Meta Lab last year, an in-person space where consumers could try out and purchase its Ray-Ban smart glasses. The company dedicated more than 50 employees to test new engaging retail experiences to promote the products.
Meta, which has spent tens of billions of dollars on its Reality Labs devices unit since 2019, is seeking to ramp up sales. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg signaled to investors late last month that he remains bullish on the business opportunities posed by augmented and virtual reality.
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