Meta’s next big bet may be humanoid robotics

Meta is forming a new team within its Reality Labs hardware division to build robots that can assist with physical tasks, Bloomberg reported. The team will be responsible for developing humanoid robotics hardware, potentially including hardware that can perform household chores.

Meta’s new robotics group, which will be led by Marc Whitten, driverless car startup Cruise’s former CEO, will also create robotic software and AI, according to Bloomberg’s reporting. Whitten has also had stints at Amazon, Microsoft, and Sonos, according to his LinkedIn profile.

To be clear, Meta’s plan isn’t to build a Meta-branded robot — at least not initially. Rather, Meta executives including CTO Andrew Bosworth believe the company has an opportunity to build a hardware foundation for the rest of the robotics market, per Bloomberg — similar to what Google accomplished with its Android operating system in the smartphone sector.

Bloomberg reports that Meta has also entered into discussions with robotics companies, including Unitree Robotics and Figure AI, to possibly partner on prototypes.