Meta is buying another AI company, this time one focused on robotics.
The social media giant has purchased Assured Robot Intelligence, a robotics AI startup. The startup's staff will join Meta's Superintelligence Labs, the company's flagship AI research division. Financial terms were not disclosed. This acquisition follows a pattern of Meta acquiring AI and hardware companies as it expands beyond its core social media business.
This signals Meta's continued bet that physical AI — machines that interact with the real world — is the next frontier. Humanoid robots have become the hot new thing in tech, with nearly every major player announcing some kind of push into the space. But as with most long-term hardware visions from companies that primarily sell ads, the gap between the announcement and anything you can actually buy remains vast.
The deal adds bodies to Meta's robotics ambitions, which have been somewhat amorphous until now. Whether this translates to a shipping product, a research paper, or just another team that eventually gets shuttered is anyone's guess.