Figure AI, a U.S.-based startup focused on building AI-powered humanoid robots, severed its ties with OpenAI last week, with CEO Brett Adcock claiming a "major breakthrough" in robot intelligence that made the partnership unnecessary.

The split came just months after the two companies announced their collaboration alongside a $675 million funding round that valued Figure at $2.6 billion to kick-start its Figure 02 robot.

The Figure 02. Image: Figure AI
The Figure 02. Image: Figure AI
"Today, I made the decision to leave our Collaboration Agreement with OpenAI," Adcock tweeted. “Figure made a major breakthrough on fully end-to-end robot AI, built entirely in-house”. The move marked a stark reversal for Figure, which previously planned to use OpenAI's models for its Figure 02 humanoid's natural language capabilities.