The robotics industry is growing day by day. The popularity of this robotics is growing after Boston Dynamic showed their Spot robot a few years ago. Then Tesla with Optimus and has also launched a new version which is Optimus Gen 2. Another company that is trying to make a name for itself is Figure and they have recently signed an agreement with BMW.
BMW will use humanoid (human-like robot) Figure 01 in the factory in South Carolina, USA. The factory is responsible for producing 1,500 X-series and XM-series BMW cars daily. The plant also has 11,000 employees and is expected to be worth $9.6 billion. Figure 01 is said to handle "general tasks" but it is not specified specifically what the tasks of each robot are.
Figure and BMW also did not reveal how many robot units will be used, other than telling that there will be five tasks that the robot can do and each of these tasks can only be done in stages. This is because Figure 01 is a robot that can learn by itself, after getting used to some tasks it can move by itself.
This general task is said to be a task that human workers frequently quit. Within 12 months to 24 months, Figure 01 will be delivered little by little in stages. With many companies announcing layoffs lately, will robotic employee takeovers become the new trend in the current era of generative AI?