AI robot wars heat up

source: axios.com (submitted by FAN, Bill Amshey)  | image: pexels.com

Walking, dexterous robots are gradually making the leap from the science lab to the workplace with more sophisticated AI-driven software, Axios’ Jennifer A. Kingson writes.

• Why it matters: There’s intense competition among humanoid robot manufacturers to get their products into the production lines of companies like Amazon and BMW.

Zoom in: An OpenAI-powered robot from a company called Figure was filmed using “common sense” to pick up an apple and hand it to a person who asked: “Can I have something to eat?”

• The wild demonstration video for Figure 01, released yesterday, also showed the robot explaining in plain English why it acted in the way it did: “So I gave you the apple because it’s the only uh edible item I could provide you with from the table.”

Figure garnered a massive investment from Jeff Bezos and OpenAI. It’s currently staffing a BMW production line.

• A robot from Agility — a Figure competitor — is being tested by Amazon and GXO Logistics, which recently deployed it at a Spanx warehouse in Georgia.