Figure AI markets its humanoid robots as fully autonomous, but multiple investigations suggest the opposite. The company raised $1 billion at a $39 billion valuation with backers like Nvidia, Intel and OpenAI. Earlier exposés showed CEO Brett Adcock falsely claimed his robot was doing laundry at home when the footage came from a controlled test facility. Subsequent media stunts—such as a pre‑recorded robot message at a Melania Trump event and a 200‑hour live‑stream of package handling—were presented as proof of autonomy, yet the robot’s behavior displayed tell‑tale signs of human tele‑operation: it began turning before a verbal cue, repeatedly raised its hand to its head (as if adjusting a VR headset), and occasionally assumed odd poses consistent with operator shifts.
Figure’s partnership with BMW involved only a single robot performing a simple, repetitive part‑feeding task, not the fleet‑wide, end‑to‑end operation Adcock advertised; BMW later chose a different supplier for any further humanoid‑robot deployment. At public events (e.g., the 2025 Bloomberg Tech Summit) Adcock avoided bringing a robot, calling it a waste of time, while still producing highly choreographed demo videos in company labs.
Despite Adcock’s denials and claims of an onboard “Helix 2” neural network, the accumulation of inconsistencies—misrepresented home‑use, limited real‑world deployment, reliance on staged demos, and observable tele‑operator cues—strongly indicates that Figure’s robots are often being remotely controlled rather than operating autonomously. The lack of any lawsuit against critical reporting and the absence of successor robots at BMW further suggest the BMW trial was a pilot, not a genuine production rollout. Overall, the evidence casts serious doubt on Figure AI’s autonomy claims.
1. Figure AI is a humanoid robot company.
2. Figure AI claims to have developed humanoid robots that can operate autonomously based on proprietary AI models.
3. In the previous year, Figure AI raised $1 billion of venture capital at a $39 billion valuation.
4. Investors in that round included Nvidia, Intel, and OpenAI.
5. In November of the previous year, a video was published that exposed information about Figure AI.
6. In that video, Figure AI CEO Brett Adcock claimed that the company's robot was doing his laundry in his house.
7. The video that Adcock claimed was filmed in his house was actually filmed in a controlled testing facility.
8. In March 2026, Figure AI conducted a publicity stunt where its robot delivered a pre‑recorded message at an event hosted by Melania Trump.
9. In May 2026, Figure AI live‑streamed its robot processing packages for 200 consecutive hours.
10. In early 2024, Figure AI announced plans to deploy its humanoid robots at BMW's factory in South Carolina.
11. Around early 2025, one Figure AI robot was deployed at the BMW factory and worked every day.
12. The robot's task was to pick up sheet‑metal parts from a bin and place them onto a welding fixture.
13. Conventional industrial robots performed the welding and moved the part down the line.
14. Brett Adcock described a fleet of Figure AI robots performing end‑to‑end operations for BMW.
15. When Fortune magazine contacted BMW directly, a BMW spokesperson said only a single robot was working at any given time.
16. The BMW spokesperson stated that the robot performed one task, not a fleet performing end‑to‑end operations.
17. Figure AI's activities at the BMW factory have been described as a pilot program or experiment rather than a full operational deployment.
18. After the Fortune article was published, Brett Adcock tweeted that the article was full of mischaracterizations and downright lies.
19. Adcock did not identify or rebut any specific claim made in the Fortune article.
20. Adcock stated that Figure AI's litigation council would aggressively pursue defamation claims.
21. To date, there has been no public evidence that a lawsuit was filed, and the Fortune article remains published.
22. Figure AI has published numerous demonstration videos of its robots performing various tasks.
23. Many of those demonstration videos were filmed in controlled environments at Figure AI's own testing facilities.
24. In June 2025, Bloomberg hosted a technology summit in San Francisco that featured several humanoid‑robot startups.
25. Several of those startups brought their robots on stage for live audience demonstrations.
26. Brett Adcock attended the Bloomberg summit but did not bring a robot with him.
27. At the summit, Adcock said that bringing a robot to events is a waste of time.
28. In November 2025, Figure AI claimed that its robot contributed to the production of 30,000 BMW cars.
29. The Figure AI robot was never on the main BMW assembly line; it handled a feeder process upstream of the welding station.
30. The 30,000 figure reflects the number of vehicles BMW built during the months the robot was loading parts.
31. The robot used at the BMW factory was a second‑generation model called Figure 2.
32. In October 2025, Figure AI released a third‑generation robot called Figure 3.
33. After the release of Figure 3, the Figure 2 robots were retired and removed from the BMW factory.
34. More than six months have passed since the unveiling of Figure 3, with no announcement that BMW has deployed the newer model at its factory.
35. When BMW later deployed a humanoid robot at its plant in Lipstick, Germany in 2026, it selected a robot called Eon built by Hexagon Robotics, not Figure AI.
36. The company that ran BMW's first heavily publicized humanoid‑robot pilot was not the company BMW chose for its subsequent deployment.
37. Many humanoid‑robot systems use teleoperation, where a human operator wears a VR headset and bodysuit to control the robot remotely.
38. Some humanoid‑robot companies create demonstrations that make robots appear autonomous while they are actually being teleoperated.
39. In October 2024, Tesla showcased its Optimus humanoid robot at an event; it was later revealed that the robots were teleoperated.
40. In November 2025, Brett Adcock gave a YouTube interview in which he criticized competitors for allegedly deceptive use of teleoperation.
41. In April 2026, Adcock invited podcaster Shawn Ryan to view a Figure AI robot in person.
42. During the Shawn Ryan demonstration, the robot appeared to respond to verbal commands from Adcock.
43. However, the robot began turning around before Adcock gave the verbal command to turn.
44. On May 13 2026, Figure AI live‑streamed its robot processing packages for 200 hours at its San Jose headquarters.
45. The robot's task was to orient packages so the barcode faced down and push them onto a conveyor belt.
46. During the live stream, the robot failed twice to pick up a black package and then raised its left hand to its head.
47. Throughout the 200‑hour live stream, the robot occasionally stood upright and extended its hands forward as if riding an imaginary bicycle.
48. Adcock stated that the robot operated fully autonomously using an onboard neural network called Helix 2.
49. Adcock claimed that each time the robot turns left to grab a package, it moves its left hand upward; however, observation shows this does not happen consistently.
50. The robot only occasionally raises its hand to its head during the live stream.