Will Robocop Wash Your socks?

Hey Robot fans,

This week Figure.AI CEO Brett Adcock posted a video on X from his home. The robot is doing laundry! We also have a roundup of robot dance videos. Let’s dive in!

Figure’s 02 Humanoid Will Wash My Gym Socks

We’ve talked about Figure.AI before, but this is the first time they’ve posted something that made us excited.

Figure is a Silicon Valley robotics company that’s already raised almost $1B (some reports say $1.5B, so basically Scrooge McDuck money).

This week, CEO Brett Adcock casually dropped a home video on X showing the Figure 02 humanoid robot loading a washing machine. Adcock’s kids are in the background, making the whole thing feel weirdly wholesome, even though the robot itself looks like it just finished coffee with The Mandalorian.

Matte black. Tactical. Cool as as can be. And yes… it’s doing laundry.

What is Helix? It runs on Helix, their onboard Vision-Language-Action model, which means no one’s puppeteering it behind the scenes. Adcock claims they’ve been doing laundry runs at the office for a month. My lower back is excited.

Both videos show the robot loading the laundry machine with clothes. Now, I love this, but we all know that laundry is a lot more steps than just loading. It usually goes like this:

1. Grab the laundry basket, trip over Legos, curse under my breath.

2. Discover the kids left soaking wet clothes fermenting in the washer, curse out loud.

3. Haul wet clothes to the dryer dropping half of them on the floor before they even hit the dryer.

4. Extract candy wrappers and mystery slime from tiny jeans.

5. Clean the lint trap that looks like it’s made of rabbit hair and broken dreams.

6. Spray stain remover on 90% of my son’s wardrobe.

7. Pick “15-min Quick Wash” (aka the parental cheat code cycle).

8. Smash that start button.

So the video shows one of the 8 steps laundry actually takes. It’s still exciting, but we have some work to do here.

🏠 Could Figure be Your Homebot?

Figure was originally on our radar after inking a deal with BMW to work in the BMW factories. There was some controversy about just how real this deal was, but regardless we had them penciled into the ‘robots who do factory work’ basket, not the laundry basket.

This post by Adcock changes things for us. Laundry and home chores is clearly a focus for them and we love it.

🤔 Our Take

Figure has the funding, and the software to win the Home Humanoid Hunger Games. However there’s 3 companies building high-end humanoids and who have hinted at selling them to consumers. Figure’s 02, Tesla’s Optimus, and 1x’s Neo.

Figure’s progress is impressive, but who do you want to see in your laundry room when you peak in there? The bot itself looks really cool, but it’s very dark and tactical looking. Figure’s bot reads more Robocop than Rosie. We also love the Sci-Fi homage in Optimus (Prime) and Neo (Matrix), while figure’s ‘02’ designation seems more like an afterthought.

Both Optimus and Neo feel a little more friendly, but if I never have to do laundry again, do I care?

🎥 Video Corner: Dance Edition

Look, we try to stay focused on useful robots. The ones folding laundry, taking out trash, saving us from the endless grind of chores.

But sometimes? You just need to watch robots dance. 

Until next time.

The future is bright,
Ferol

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