Meta has just completed the acquisition of a humanoid robotics startup, Assured Robot Intelligence (ARI), for an undisclosed figure.
“We acquired Assured Robot Intelligence, a company at the frontier of robotic intelligence designed to enable robots to understand, predict, and adapt to human behaviours in complex and dynamic environments,” a Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch in an emailed statement.
ARI’s team, including its co-founders, will all be incorporated into Meta’s AI unit, the Superintelligence Labs research division. ARI had raised an undisclosed seed round from AI seed firm AIX Ventures.
The startup was focused on building foundation AI models that enable robots to perform a wide range of physical tasks, including household chores and general labor.
The startup was co-founded by Xiaolong Wang, a former Nvidia researcher and associate professor at the University of California, San Diego, who has received several prestigious awards for his work in robotics and AI. The second co-founder, Lerrel Pinto, previously taught at New York University and also co-founded the kid-sized humanoid robotics startup Fauna Robotics, which was recently acquired by Amazon. He is also widely recognized for his research contributions and academic achievements in the field.
The new team, known as ARI, is expected to play a key role in strengthening Meta’s long-term humanoid robotics ambitions. According to Meta, the group will focus on developing advanced AI systems that can improve robot control, enable self-learning, and support full-body humanoid movement.
Meta has actually been exploring humanoid robotics for several years, with internal research efforts and leaked documents from the past year revealing plans to develop both AI models and hardware aimed at future consumer-facing robots.
Even if Meta does not immediately launch a humanoid robot for consumers, many experts believe robotics will be a critical step toward achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI), the idea of AI systems that can match or surpass human intelligence across most tasks. The belief is that real-world physical interaction will be necessary for training truly advanced AI systems, beyond just digital data.
This move also reflects a broader global push into humanoid robotics. Industry forecasts show just how big and uncertain the space is expected to become, with estimates ranging from $38 billion by 2035 according to Goldman Sachs, to as high as $5 trillion by 2050 according to Morgan Stanley. The wide gap highlights both the technology’s massive potential and its unpredictability as it continues to evolve.
