OpenAI is moving back toward robotics through a new partnership with Figure AI, a startup building humanoid robots. The companies plan to combine advanced AI models with robots that can understand natural language, reason through tasks, and move toward commercial use more quickly.
A Robotics Partnership Built Around AI Models
Figure AI made its new funding round official: $675 million at a valuation of $2.6 billion. Alongside that financing, OpenAI and Figure AI are entering into an additional partnership focused on AI systems for humanoid robots.
The stated plan is to "develop next generation AI models for humanoid robots." The work is meant to help robots process natural language and draw logical conclusions, two capabilities that could make human-robot interaction easier and more useful.
The models are trained and run in Microsoft's Azure cloud. That places Microsoft in an important technical role, beyond its position as one of the investors in Figure AI's funding round.
For Figure AI, the partnership adds a major AI lab to its robotics push. For OpenAI, it offers a practical route back into a field it stepped away from after ending robotics research in 2021 to focus entirely on scaling AI models.
Why Natural Language Matters For Humanoid Robots
The core idea behind the partnership is that robots may become more capable when they can connect language, perception, and action. A humanoid robot that can understand instructions in natural language could be easier to direct than one that depends only on rigid programming or narrow task commands.
The source article points to Google Deepmind and its RT models as a recent example of how natural language processing can significantly improve everyday robot capabilities. That context helps explain why OpenAI and Figure AI are focusing on models that can understand words and make logical connections.
Figure Founder and CEO Brett Adcock described the value this way: "We see a tremendous advantage of having a large language model or multi models model on the robot so that we can interact with it and give what we call ‘semantic understanding,’"
That phrase, semantic understanding, is central to the company’s pitch. It suggests robots that do not merely execute prewritten actions, but can interpret what a person means in a situation and respond in a more useful way.
Funding Brings Major Tech Backers Into Figure AI
According to Bloomberg, Figure AI has raised $675 million in funding. Investors include Jeff Bezos, Nvidia, OpenAI, and Microsoft.
The reported commitments show how many major technology players are paying attention to humanoid robots:
- Bezos invests $100 million through his company Explore Investments.
- Microsoft is investing $95 million.
- Nvidia and an Amazon-affiliated fund are investing $50 million each.
- OpenAI contributes $5 million after deciding not to acquire Figure AI.
Other backers include Intel, Samsung, LG Innotek, Parkway Venture Capital, Align Ventures, ARK Venture Fund, Aliya Capital Partners, Tamarack, Boscolo Intervest and BOLD Capital Partners.
The funding round marks a change from earlier talks. Figure AI had been in discussions to secure up to $500 million in a round potentially led by Microsoft and OpenAI, with the deal possibly valuing the company at $1.9 billion before pre-financing. The official round is larger, and the valuation is higher.
Figure 01 Targets Dangerous Work And Labor Shortages
Figure AI is developing human-like robots. Its AI-powered robot, Figure 01, is designed to perform dangerous tasks that are unsuitable for humans.
The robot is also intended to alleviate labor shortages. The source does not give a specific launch timeline, customer list, or workplace deployment plan, but it makes clear that Figure AI is building toward practical use rather than a purely experimental machine.
That commercial ambition explains why accelerating time to market is part of the OpenAI partnership. If AI models can help humanoid robots understand language and reason through actions, Figure AI may be able to move faster from development toward real-world applications.
Figure AI had previously raised $70 million in a funding round led by Parkway Venture Capital. The new round, with its larger group of investors, gives the company more financial backing as it works on Figure 01 and the broader humanoid robot effort.
OpenAI Signals A Return To Robotics
OpenAI stopped its robotics research in 2021 as it focused on scaling AI models. More recently, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a podcast with Bill Gates that OpenAI is looking at robotics in the long term.
Peter Welinder, Open AI VP of Product and Partnerships, connected that long-term view to the Figure AI deal in a statement to PopSci: "We’ve always planned to come back to robotics and we see a path with Figure to explore what humanoid robots can achieve when powered by highly capable multimodal models,"
The partnership does not mean OpenAI is building its own humanoid robot from scratch. Based on the source, the arrangement is centered on AI models and Figure AI’s robot platform, with Microsoft’s Azure cloud supporting training and runtime.
The larger significance is straightforward: OpenAI’s model work is being aimed at physical robots, while Figure AI gains access to AI expertise that could help make its humanoid machines easier to instruct and more capable in everyday tasks.