Robots are the new frontier in Silicon Valley. We're not talking about the machine tools that have been at work in factories for decades, or even the quadruped robots from Boston Dynamics, but humanoid robots that assist with everyday tasks, like Tesla's Optimus. Apple is also on the case.
$65 billion for AI and robotics
This barely emerging market segment is of great interest to Meta, which has set up a dedicated team within Reality Labs, the division already in charge of developing the metaverse and virtual and mixed reality headsets and glasses. According to a memo intercepted by Bloomberg, the team is led by Marc Whitten, a former executive at General Motors and Amazon.
“The core technologies we’ve already invested in and developed within Reality Labs and our AI are complementary to the advances needed in robotics,” wrote Andrew Bosworth, Meta’s chief technology officer. “We believe this investment will only enrich Meta AI and our mixed and augmented reality programs.”
For now, there’s no question of launching a robot branded with Meta’s colors. The company prefers to follow the path of Google or Microsoft, whose operating systems — Android and Windows — equip billions of devices worldwide. In other words: Meta wants to develop the reference technologies, then leave it up to third-party manufacturers to draw on them to build their own robots.
Above all, we’ll have to be patient because almost everything remains to be done. Meta would indeed have the ambition to design a robot capable of assisting in domestic tasks: folding clothes, putting away the dishes, carrying a glass of water... Very mundane missions for ordinary mortals, but which for robots are extremely complex. Hence the use of artificial intelligence, but also advanced sensors.
This is therefore a long-term project that Meta is opening here. The company is already in discussions with specialists in the field such as Unitree Robotics and Figure AI; Meta's AI research team (FAIR) has been working on robotics for several months and has published several studies. Meta plans to spend $65 billion this year on funding for AI, robotics and related products.
Source: Bloomberg
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