Figure AI is an Nvidia-backed humanoid-robot startup that wants to fill our lives with C-3POs—helper robots vaguely human-shaped. Allegedly, they will be able to assist people in various ways.
It all sounds ominous on the surface, and it only becomes more so after reading about the absolutely wild whistleblower lawsuit the company is currently facing, which alleges its robots are dangerous to humans.
As reported by CNBC, former head of product safety Robert Gruendel said the startup fired him for sounding the alarm that its next-gen bots are so physically strong they can fracture a human skull. Allegedly, the robots move “at superhuman speed” and with a force that generates “twenty times higher than the threshold of pain.”
I’m getting flashbacks to the animated Matrix short “The Second Renaissance.”
Gruendel says he walked into the company expecting Silicon Valley optimism, but instead found a lot of recklessness and no safety procedures being followed at all. The epitome of Silicon Valley’s “move fast and break things” philosophy, just in this case, the things that will break are human skulls as they’re crushed in a robot hand.
Gruendel’s whistleblower lawsuit alleges that leadership initially welcomed his concerns. He took steps toward creating a safer environment by creating safety roadmaps and detailing industry norms to upper management.
He even warned CEO Brett Adcock and chief engineer...
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