Figure AI Dumps OpenAI Deal After 'Major Breakthrough' in Robot Intelligence

Figure AI, a U.S.-based startup focused on building AI-powered humanoid robots, severed its ties with OpenAI last week, with CEO Brett Adcock claiming a "major breakthrough" in robot intelligence that made the partnership unnecessary.

The split came just months after the two companies announced their collaboration alongside a $675 million funding round that valued Figure at $2.6 billion to kick-start its Figure 02 robot.

The Figure 02. Image: Figure AI

"Today, I made the decision to leave our Collaboration Agreement with OpenAI," Adcock tweeted. “Figure made a major breakthrough on fully end-to-end robot AI, built entirely in-house”. The move marked a stark reversal for Figure, which previously planned to use OpenAI's models for its Figure 02 humanoid's natural language capabilities.

In a separate post, Adcock explained that, over time, maintaining a partnership with OpenAI to use its LLMs started to make less sense for his company.

"LLMs are getting smarter yet more commoditized. For us, LLMs have quickly become the smallest piece of the puzzle," Adcock wrote. "Figure's AI models are built entirely in-house, making external AI partnerships not just cumbersome but ultimately irrelevant to our success."

The decision came amid broader changes in the AI landscape. OpenAI itself had been rebuilding its robotics team, filing a trademark application mentioning "humanoid robots"—alongside a wide array of other technologies like virtual reality, augmented reality, agents, and wearables. It began hiring for its first robotics positions last month.

Some AI enthusiasts were quick to note that the move could just be another consequence of the DeepSeek effect—which has already forced the most powerful AI companies in the world to lower the prices of all their SOTA models to remain competitive against open-source alternatives.

OpenAI provides one of the most expensive LLMs in the market—with DeepSeek R1 providing better results than OpenAI o1 while being available free, open source, uncensored, and highly customizable. Figure could simply be betting on an in-house foundational model to power its lineup without depending on OpenAI’s offerings.

Figure has already secured a deal with BMW Manufacturing to integrate humanoid robots into automotive production, and recently struck a partnership with an unnamed major U.S. client that would be its second big commercial client.

“It gives us potential to ship at high volumes—which will drive cost reduction and AI data collection,” Adcock posted on LinkedIn a week ago. “Between both customers, we believe there is a path to 100,000 robots over the next four years.”

Figure developed a data engine that powered its “embodied artificial intelligence” systems, enabling its robots to learn and adapt in real time through cloud and edge computing solutions. The company's technology allowed its robots to respond to language prompts and perform tasks that incorporated language, vision, and action.

“We're working on training the robot on how to do use case work at high speeds and high performance” Adcock said. “Learning the use case with AI is the only path”

OpenAI still maintains investments in other robotics ventures, including Norwegian startup 1X.

Adcock promised to reveal the fruits of Figure's “breakthrough” within 30 days, and he wasn’t subtle with his words. He promised the announcement would be "something no one has ever seen on a humanoid."

Guess he learned from the best.

Edited by Andrew Hayward