No Priors: Artificial Intelligence | Technology | Startups

The argument for humanoid AI robots with Brett Adcock from Figure

Apr 4, 2024

38:13

Snipd AI

Brett Adcock, Founder and CEO of Figure AI, discusses the potential of building a fleet of humanoid robots for various tasks. They talk about the implementation of AI robots in industrial settings as a stepping stone into homes, the team and partnerships accelerating their growth, and the plan to achieve social acceptance for AI robots.

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Quick takeaways

Figure AI aims to revolutionize industries with humanoid robots, accelerating the development of artificial general intelligence.

Building versatile humanoid robots that adapt to human environments is more efficient than specialized designs for diverse tasks.

Deep dives

From Farm to Robot Development

Brett Adcock, CEO of Figure AI, traces his journey from growing up on a farm in Illinois to venturing into software development and subsequently transitioning to hardware innovations. His experience spans over 20 years of building companies, with recent endeavors in electric aircraft manufacturing. Adcock's path led him to establish Figure AI to commercialize humanoid robots by leveraging his expertise in hardware and software development.

Building a Team with Persistence and Involvement

01:22

The Significance of Humanoid Robots in the Future of Work

01:48

Anticipating the Impact of AGI on Humanoid Robotics

01:23

Introduction

4min

The Evolution of Humanoid AI Robots

11min

Building a Multi-Domain Team and Organizational Culture

3min

Progress and Challenges in Deploying Humanoid AI Robots in Real Facilities

2min

In-depth Look at Figure's Vertical Integration Strategy

7min

Advancing Humanoid AI Robots: Business Partnerships and Social Acceptance

10min

Humans are always doing work that is dull or dangerous. Brett Adcock, the founder and CEO of Figure AI, wants to build a fleet of robots that can do everything from work in a factory or warehouse to folding your laundry in the home. Today on No Priors, Sarah got the chance to talk with Brett about how a company that is only 21 months old has already built humanoid robots that not only walk the walk by performing tasks like item retrieval and making a cup of coffee but they also talk the talk through speech to speech reasoning.

In this episode, Brett and Sarah discuss why right now is the correct time to build a fleet of AI robots and how implementation in industrial settings will be a stepping stone into AI robots coming into the home. They also get into how Brett built a team of world class engineers, commercial partnerships with BMW and OpenAI that are accelerating their growth, and the plan to achieve social acceptance for AI robots.

Show Notes:

(0:00) Brett’s background

(3:09) Figure AI Thesis

(5:51) The argument for humanoid robots

(7:36) Figure AI public demos

(12:38) Mitigating risk factors

(15:20) Designing the org chart and finding the team

(16:38) Deployment timeline

(20:41) Build vs buy and vertical integration

(23:04) Product management at Figure

(28:37) Corporate partnerships

(31:58) Humans at home

(33:38) Social acceptance

(35:41) AGI vs the robots

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