This Humanoid Robot Powered by OpenAI Is Almost Scary

"So I gave you the apple because it’s the only, uh, edible item I could provide you with from the table."

Figure It Out

Following the announcement of its partnership with OpenAI, tech startup Figure has released a new clip of its humanoid robot, dubbed Figure 01, chatting with an engineer as it puts away the dishes.

And we can't tell if we're impressed — or terrified.

"I see a red apple on a plate in the center of the table, a drying rack with cups and a plate, and you standing nearby with your hand on the table," the robot said in an uncanny voice, showing off OpenAI's "speech-to-speech reasoning" skills.

"Can I have something to eat?" the nearby human tester asked it.

"Sure thing," it responded, handing over the red apple with ease.

"So I gave you the apple because it’s the only, uh, edible item I could provide you with from the table," the robot said when asked why it handed him the apple, sliding in an unnervingly human-like "uh" mid-sentence.

While the company has yet to announce a viable consumer product, the demo paints an almost dystopian-feeling vision of the near future. Is this really what interacting with an AI-enabled robot that cleans your home or does your dishes could one day look like?

Apple Please

In late February, Figure announced it had signed a deal with the ChatGPT maker, hoping to give its future robots the ability to understand language using AI and learn new skills at an accelerated rate.

Previously released videos show Figure 01 using a coffee machine, walking, and picking up objects and placing them on a nearby conveyor belt.

With the additional help of OpenAI, Figure is looking to develop "next generation AI models for humanoid robots," per a press release at the time, allowing them to "process and reason from language."

And given the company's latest demo, Figure is seemingly making considerable progress on that front.

Meanwhile, competitor Tesla, which recently got caught faking a video of its Optimus humanoid robot painstakingly folding a shirt on a table, has got a lot of catching up to do.

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