CALIFORNIA – UPS is reportedly collaborating with Figure AI, a California-based robotics company, to integrate humanoid robots into its logistics network, according to a Bloomberg report citing an anonymous source.
Our first customer use case took 12 months, our second customer use case took just 30 days
Helix learned high-rate logistics with a single neural network
On Sunday, we successfully validated this on-site at the customer pic.twitter.com/ev5OeSEhly
— Figure (@Figure_robot) February 26, 2025
The news comes amid UPS’ announcement that it would be laying off 20,000 workers and shutting 73 facilities nationwide.
In a statement, UPS said it wouldn’t discuss “specific or potential vendor partners,” adding that “we regularly explore and deploy a wide range of technologies, including robotics.”
The company already has 700 bots at its UPS Velocity facility which it says optimizes storage by 30% compared to facilities without the tech.
Figure AI raised $675 Million from Microsoft, OpenAI and Jeff Bezos
Figure AI, founded by entrepreneur Brett Adcock in 2022, is a robotics company developing autonomous general purpose humanoid robots.
It announced last year that it raised $675 million with investments from Microsoft, OpenAI Startup Fund, NVIDIA, Jeff Bezos (through Bezos Expeditions), Intel Capital and others that will accelerate its timeline for humanoid commercial deployment.
Critics skeptical about first commercial agreement
Figure AI also revealed its first commercial agreement in 2024 with BMW Manufacturing to bring robots into automotive production.
While BMW confirmed that its Spartanburg plant conducted a trial with the company’s Figure 02 robot, it clarified that there are currently no Figure AI robots at the plant and no definite timetable for their deployment.
The lack of transparency from both Figure AI and BMW have left critics skeptical about the partnership.
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