Figure AI CEO Brett Adcock Skips Live Demo, Dodges BMW Questions at Tech Conference

Brett Adcock, co-founder and CEO of the humanoid robotics startup Figure AI, recently made an appearance at the Bloomberg Tech conference. Figure AI has been under scrutiny following news articles questioning its progress with key customer BMW, leading Adcock to publicly threaten legal action against at least one publication.

During the conference, Adcock addressed the skepticism surrounding the BMW partnership. While he emphasized the technical benefits of deploying robots on factory floors, he remained vague about the specifics of the contractual relationship with BMW.

“We get a lot of value, and it’s really important that we need to figure out how to run robots every day. We get to see how well they perform. We get to track all the metrics,” Adcock stated. Figure AI had previously released a YouTube video showcasing its robots in action at a BMW factory two months ago.

However, Adcock revealed that Figure AI has secured a contract with a second, as yet unnamed, customer for initial deployment. Bloomberg reports this customer to be UPS.

Figure AI has garnered attention for its bold claims about the human-like fine motor skills and precision object manipulation capabilities of its AI-powered robots. Despite releasing videos, the company has yet to conduct a live demonstration of its humanoid robots.

Bloomberg’s Ed Ludlow noted the absence of a live demonstration compared to other robotics companies like Agility Robotics and Boston Dynamics at the conference. Adcock defended this by stating, “It kind of goes back to our whole philosophy around we don’t go to a lot of events… I think it’s a giant waste of time. To be frank, I have to bring a team here to bring robots here. They could be at the office,” emphasizing the company’s focus on showcasing robots through videos.

Adcock also confirmed Figure AI’s plans to manufacture and deploy approximately 100,000 units within the next four years.

This scrutiny of Figure AI’s commercial relationships comes as the company aims to raise $1.5 billion at a $39.5 billion valuation, a significant increase from its $2.6 billion valuation in February 2024.

TechCrunch reported earlier this year that Figure AI has been issuing cease-and-desist letters to secondary market brokers to halt the unauthorized marketing of its shares.