Meta Acquires Robotics AI Startup to Bolster Foundational Technology Layout

 

U.S. tech giant Meta Platforms has acquired Assured Robot Intelligence, a startup focused on developing artificial intelligence models for robotics, which is expected to assist Meta's plans to build humanoid robot technology.

 

A Meta spokesperson told the media that the deal was completed on Friday, May 1. Meta also stated that Assured Robot Intelligence is at the forefront of the robotic intelligence field, "dedicated to enabling robots to understand, predict, and adapt to human behavior in complex and dynamic environments".

 

The Assured Robot Intelligence team will join Meta's "Superintelligence Labs" research department and work closely with the Meta Robotics Studio team, which was established last year to focus on foundational humanoid robot technology.

 

Currently, Meta is investing heavily in humanoid robots—robots that can act like humans and assist in completing various physical tasks. This emerging field is being driven by several tech giants, including Tesla, Google, and Amazon.

 

The two founders of Assured Robot Intelligence will also join "Superintelligence Labs": Xiaolong Wang previously served as a researcher at Nvidia, and Lerrel Pinto was the co-founder of Fauna Robotics, which was acquired by Amazon in March of this year.

 

Assured Robot Intelligence's employees are primarily located in San Diego and New York. Meta stated that the team "will bring deep expertise in cutting-edge capabilities such as robot control and self-learning, driving the realization of control capabilities for full-body humanoid robots".

 

Meta's robotics team is working on developing proprietary humanoid robot hardware and its underlying AI technology, including key components such as sensors and software, and plans to open these technologies to the industry to make them adoptable by more companies in the future.

 

Reports last year suggested that Meta's goal is to create a foundational platform for the entire humanoid robot market, much like the Android operating system and Qualcomm chips were to the mobile phone industry.