Meta is experimenting with robots inside its data centers, testing whether machines can take on physical jobs that have traditionally required technicians on-site. The work includes plugging in cables, resetting servers, moving heavy racks, tracking inventory, and helping with inspections.
What Meta is testing
According to several current and former workers familiar with the projects, Meta is using robots and related hardware from several vendors, including Watney Robotics, Kinova, and ABB. Kinova and ABB declined to comment. Watney didn’t respond to requests for comment.
One trial involves a Kinova Gen3 robotic arm. Meta is evaluating whether it could power cycle servers or cut off electricity to them. Another robot is being tested for swapping networking cables, a task that requires precision in crowded equipment environments.
At some facilities, Meta has also adopted a simpler device. Workers described it as looking like a finger, or a pointy stick, that can press the power button on a Mac Mini or another device after a human triggers the restart remotely.
These are not the only robots in use. In a 2023 YouTube video, Meta said it was using a self-driving tugger robot to move heavy server racks and a wheeled barcode-reading robot developed in-house to track inventory. People familiar with the projects say the tugger and inventory robots are now operating in a number of Meta data centers, including in Iowa and Virginia.
Why data centers are becoming a robotics target
Data centers contain a large amount of repeated physical work. Servers must be moved, cables must be handled, equipment must be restarted, and failures must be checked. Robots are attractive in this setting because the environment is structured, the tasks repeat, and companies are under pressure to support expanding AI infrastructure.
Meta’s data center footprint is growing quickly, and the source reporting says automation could help the company keep labor costs in check as AI infrastructure spending rises. Meta declined to comment on the specific testing described, but company spokesperson Francis Brennan said Meta is investing heavily in training and hiring workers to build and operate its data centers.
“America is in the middle of its biggest infrastructure boom since World War II, and there’s a major shortage of skilled workers to fill the roles; we need more workers, not fewer,” he said.
Eric Xu, senior manager for robotics at Meta, described broader ambitions at a conference last year. He said Meta’s “long-term goals” are to put robots in data centers, where they could improve incident response, monitor the environment, and support preventative maintenance.
“We believe more collaboration and research will be needed, but we have to start, otherwise we don’t have a chance to do this,” he said.
The technical limits are still real
Robots have not always been a natural fit for data center work. The source article says they were expensive until recently, and earlier industry experiments sometimes damaged servers while attempting basic tasks. The same reporting says the hardware has become cheaper, while the AI models that power robots are now more capable than they were a few years ago.
The current systems still have important constraints. Meta’s inventory robot is now also being used for failure inspections, but it cannot distinguish between green and red indicator lights because its camera only detects grayscale. That means human checks are still needed for some breakdowns.
The inventory robot also struggles with corners and with cables that can sit in the path of its wheels. Because there are not many of the robots, they have to be moved between buildings. That process still requires a person to open doors and maneuver the robot by remote control.
Those limits matter. They show that robotics in data centers is not simply a matter of replacing a technician with a machine. For now, the work described in the source often still depends on people to trigger, supervise, relocate, or verify what the robot is doing.
What workers are worried about
Some workers see the testing as a direct threat to parts of their jobs. One Meta data center worker estimated that a successful cable-swapping robot could replace up to 80 percent of some people’s workloads.
“We thought those of us performing the physical tasks were safe for a while, but not anymore,” says the worker. “It’s coming for us all, unfortunately.”
In Altoona, Iowa, where Meta operates what is now its largest data center campus, people familiar with worker discussions described a demoralized tone in group chats. One person said the conversations included workers “saying we’re all going to be gone in a few years anyway because of the robots.”
There is also concern that automation could change the type of jobs available, even if robots arrive slowly. Two workers said Meta is developing AI software and other technologies they believe could let the company hire lower-skilled and lower-paid workers, while centralizing some roles in places such as Denver, Colorado.
“They no longer want people who can think independently, come up with creative solutions, or perform complex troubleshooting,” one Meta data center worker says. “They want ‘smart hands,’ people who are just capable enough to follow AI instructions and not mess anything up.”
The policy question around jobs
The robotics push also intersects with how communities evaluate data centers. Tech companies often point to human jobs as one benefit of large data center developments, including when tax breaks are under discussion.
In Altoona, Meta opened its facility in 2014. The campus employs hundreds of workers, and the company has several years left on a property tax break that lets it save tens of millions of dollars annually. The city has viewed that arrangement as worthwhile in part because of the Meta jobs associated with the site.
Meta says its need for skilled workers remains strong. This year, the company launched a long-term program to train thousands of people annually from any background in electrical, mechanical, and plumbing work at no cost to them. It is also guaranteeing employment in states such as Louisiana, Ohio, Indiana, and Texas for people who complete the training, and it partnered with building trade unions to fund apprenticeship programs.
Still, as communities reconsider data center tax breaks and possible new rules for the industry, robots may become harder to ignore. Altoona Mayor Dean O’Connor tells WIRED he has not given much thought to robots taking jobs at Meta’s data center, though he described automation as inevitable.
“We will deal with it as it comes,” he says.