Meta is pushing deeper into robotics with a focus on humanoid machines, under the internal codename Metabot.
Key highlights:
- Strategic shift to software: Meta plans to license its robotics software to third-party manufacturers rather than focusing on hardware production.
- New research teams & leadership: The robotics initiative was launched by CTO Andrew Bosworth under CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s direction.
- Core challenge = software, not hardware: While hardware capabilities exist, the primary bottleneck is achieving dexterous manipulation and real-world intelligence.
- “World model” development: Meta’s Superintelligence lab is collaborating with robotics to build an AI model that understands spatial, physical, and sensory dynamics.
- High-profile hires: Talent acquisition includes roboticist Sangbae Kim from MIT and leadership from ex-Cruise CEO Marc Whitten.
- Differentiating from Tesla’s approach: Meta questions Tesla’s reliance on vision-only robotic learning and is pursuing a more hybrid, data-driven approach.
This move signals Meta’s ambition to expand from AR and AI into embodied, physical systems—tying its virtual and real-world strategies together.
Credit : https://www.theverge.com/column/786759/humanoid-robots-meta