Figure AI Shakes Silicon Valley With $39.5B Valuation, 200,000 Robots Promised By 2029, Beating Out SpaceX And OpenAI

Figure AI, a young robotics startup led by serial entrepreneur Brett Adcock, is shaking up Silicon Valley. The company, which promises to revolutionize industries with autonomous robots, is seeking to raise $1.5 billion at a jaw-dropping $39.5 billion valuation, according to The Wall Street Journal.

A Bold Beginning For Figure AI

Founded in 2022, Figure AI set its sights high from the start. Adcock, who previously launched Vettery and Archer Aviation, began by hiring top robotics experts and raising $70 million in venture capital. In 2023, the company revealed its first humanoid robot, sparking early buzz in the tech community.

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Bloomberg reported that last year, Figure AI announced a massive $675 million funding round at a $2.6 billion valuation, attracting investments from Microsoft MSFT, OpenAI, Nvidia NVDA, and billionaire Jeff Bezos' private firm. According to the  Journal, Bezos even visited the company's facility, fueling speculation about a potential partnership with Amazon AMZN. Talks eventually fell through, but momentum around Figure AI kept growing.

The major breakthrough came with BMW. Figure's robots are now being tested inside BMW's South Carolina factory. As of this month, multiple humanoid robots are active on-site, performing tasks like picking up and grasping metal sheets, the Journal reported.  A BMW announcement confirmed the news, explaining that the robots initially practiced during nonproduction hours and have since transitioned to live-production scenarios.

Adcock has been vocal about the company's progress. In a March 31 social media post featuring the robots at work, he wrote, "This isn't a test—this is what autonomous robots in production operations look like. Turn the music up!"

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Figure's ambitions are enormous. The company's documents forecast more than 200,000 robots deployed across factories and homes by 2029, generating $9 billion in revenue. Such lofty goals are rare for hardware startups, especially considering Figure AI reported no revenue last year and only has a few dozen robots built so far.

Silicon Valley Bets Big On The Robot Future

Despite the gap between vision and reality, investor interest has exploded. On March 24, Adcock posted that Figure had become the “#1 most sought-after private stock in the secondary market,” outranking giants like SpaceX and OpenAI.

One of the biggest players in the current funding push is Align Ventures. The firm has been working to pool smaller investors into a special-purpose fund to join the round, easing the amount Align itself has to invest, according to term sheets and documents shared with potential backers. With Figure AI's robots actively working at BMW and Tesla's TSLA  humanoid robot still in prototype stages, some believe the $39.5 billion valuation is justified.

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In the background, smaller investors have been receiving direct offers to buy Figure shares from former employees at steep discounts. In one case, after an investor flagged the proposed deal, Adcock responded that the offer was fraudulent and directed interested parties to invest only through official rounds.

Figure AI Pushes Forward As Interest Soars

Still, the excitement around Figure AI continues to build. Adcock's ability to rally capital, attract major investors, and secure a partnership with BMW positions the company as a key player in the race to bring autonomous robots to everyday life.

While challenges remain, Figure AI is aggressively scaling its efforts. The company is reportedly exploring expansion into logistics and warehousing applications, aiming to broaden the use of its robots beyond automotive factories. Whether Figure AI delivers on its bold promises remains to be seen, but for now, Silicon Valley is watching closely.

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