Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta eyes humanoid robots for home assistance: What we know so far | Technology News
Mark Zuckerberg owned Meta may be working on developing both hardware and software for humanoid robots. The news comes from a recent report by Bloomberg, which suggests that a new team formed within Meta’s Reality Labs division will start working on “humanoid robot hardware” that can help with household chores.
It goes on to say that Meta wants to make “the underlying AI, sensors and software for robots that will be manufactured and sold by a wide range of companies” and is in talks with companies like Unitree Robotics and Figure AI to make a Meta branded humanoid.
This means that Meta might not initially launch an in-house developed robot but might be looking to achieve what Google and Qualcomm did with Android and Snapdragon chips in the smartphone sector.
But even the tech giant dosen’t plan to sell a Meta branded robot, it plans on building prototypes and hardware that act as a foundation for humanoid robots.
In an internal memo seen by the publication, Meta’s Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth said that the “core technologies we’ve already invested in and built across Reality Labs and AI are complementary to developing the advancements needed for robotics.”
According to one of the people involved in the new project, the software, sensors and other things Meta is already working on happen to be the same core technologies that are used in humanoids.
The report suggests that the new team working on humanoid robots will be led by Marc Whitten, who has also worked on GM’s now abandoned experimental robotaxi called Cruise. The company is also rumoured to hire around 100 engineers for the project this year.
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In the last few years, Meta has poured hundreds of billions of dollars into it’s Reality Labs division, which developers products like the Quest VR headset and the Ray-Ban smart glasses. This year, the company is planning to invest $65 billion on similar products and develop an AI infrastructure and humanoid robots.
While Meta’s humanoid robots may still be a couple of years away, it is likely to become 104
A few days ago, Apple published a research paper that highlights a new framework called EMOTION, which aims to teach humanoid robots how to mimic facial expressions and hand gestures. The Cupertino based tech giant also seems to be interested in robots, but unlike Meta, it is working on non-humanoid robots as well.
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