Figure’s humanoid robot no longer walks like it needs the bathroom

We’ve recently seen humanoid robots that can cartwheel, kung-fu kick, and front flip, but such attention-grabbing stunts aren’t the goal of California-based Figure AI.

Instead, its team of roboticists is focusing on designing an AI-powered bot that can move quickly and reliably and get things done.

In a video (top) shared on X on Tuesday, Figure showed its own humanoid 02 robot performing “learned, natural walking.”

Figure’s footage demonstrates the scale of the improvement in walking ability achieved by the team behind the robot. As you can see, the original 01 robot had more of a waddle about it, similar to how you might move if you were desperate for the bathroom. The latest 02 design, however, has a more relaxed walking style, with more realistic strides that help it to move more quickly — important for when the bipedal bot is deployed in the workplace or the home.

Indeed, Figure said in a post on X on Tuesday that this year is set to be “a big one” as it’s “launching into production manufacturing, scaling up robots at our commercial customers, and working on launching robots into the home.”

A few weeks ago, Figure CEO Brett Adcock revealed that Helix — the AI model that Figure uses to power its humanoid robot — was advancing more quickly than expected, enabling the team to accelerate its timeline for home deployment by two years, meaning that testing will begin sometime this year.

Figure’s impressive 02 robot stands at 5 foot and 6 inches (168 centimeters), tips the scales at 154 pounds (70 kilograms), and can function for about five hours on a single charge.

The company has already completed a trial deployment of its humanoid robot at a BMW facility in South Carolina in which a number of its robots were used to place sheet metal parts into specific fixtures that were then assembled as part of a vehicle’s chassis.

Figure says its overall ambition is “to develop general purpose humanoids that make a positive impact on humanity and create a better life for future generations,” adding that its AI-powered designs “can eliminate the need for unsafe and undesirable jobs — ultimately allowing us to live happier, more purposeful lives.”