Humanoid robot-maker Figure partners with OpenAI and gets backing from Jeff Bezos and tech giants

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy ChatGPT-maker OpenAI is looking to fuse its artificial intelligence systems into the bodies of humanoid robots as part of a new deal with robotics startup Figure. For OpenAI, which dabbled in robotics research before pivoting to a focus on the AI large language models that power ChatGPT, the partnership will "open up new possibilities for how robots can help in everyday life,” said Peter Welinder, the San Francisco company's vice president of product and partnerships, in a written statement. The collaboration will have OpenAI building specialized AI models for Figure’s humanoid robots, likely based on OpenAI's existing technology such as GPT language models, the image-generator DALL-E and the new video-generator Sora. “And I think that the groups that are backing a lot of humanoid solutions right now, they’re in there for the long haul, which is great because you need that, but it’s going to take decades upon decades.” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman hinted at a renewed interest in robotics in a podcast hosted by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and released early this year in which Altman said the company was starting to invest in promising robotics hardware platforms after having earlier abandoned its own research.