Amid fierce competition in the mixed reality headset market, Apple and Meta are now setting their sights on AI humanoid robots. According to Mark Gurman’s latest Power On newsletter in Bloomberg, both tech giants are independently developing AI-powered humanoid robots.
Reportedly, Meta has created an entirely new department within its Reality Labs hardware division dedicated to this project, while Apple’s machine learning group is spearheading its own version. As noted in the newsletter, these robots are expected to perform everyday tasks such as folding a t-shirt, dancing, or boiling an egg—drawing immediate comparisons to Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot. Notably, Gurman makes a specific comparison between Apple’s humanoid project and the Tesla bot.
Meta aims to build a software platform that hardware developers can utilize to enter the AI humanoid arena. The company, led by Mark Zuckerberg, believes its expertise in mixed reality sensors, computing, and its Llama AI model will provide a competitive advantage. The report also indicates that Meta has already begun discussions on this initiative and is collaborating with China’s Unitary Robotics and Figure AI, the latter being seen as a direct competitor to Tesla.
Meanwhile, Apple is reportedly focused on creating a humanoid robot that showcases its AI prowess and seamlessly integrates with its ecosystem, developed by its advanced AI research teams.
Meta and Apple are not alone in this race; Google’s DeepMind is also exploring robotics. In addition, Texas-based Apptronik recently announced a $350 million investment, with Google among the investors, positioning it as a competitor to Tesla. Apptronik is actively developing humanoid robots for various industries, including healthcare and education, and for assisting with everyday home tasks.
At the We, Robot event in October 2024, Tesla CEO Elon Musk proclaimed the imminent arrival of AI humanoid robots in our daily lives. Referring specifically to the Tesla bot, he stated, “The Optimus will walk amongst you. You’ll be able to walk right up to them, and they will serve drinks.” Musk added, “Anything you can think of, it can do,” emphasizing the bot’s potential to perform tasks from walking your dog to babysitting, mowing the lawn, and even serving drinks. He estimated the cost of a humanoid robot, particularly the Optimus bot, to be between $20,000 and $30,000, and declared it to be the “most significant product” ever created.
