We already know that Meta is working on an AI version of the company’s founder. A new acquisition could give the Zuckerbot a body of its own. The platform, according to a report from Bloomberg, has acquired Assured Robot Intelligence (ARI).
The startup about to be absorbed into Zuckerberg’s empire doesn’t make robots, but it does make artificial intelligence software intended to power them. ARI is joining Meta specifically to overcome “critical challenges” related to humanoid robot control.
Meta’s Zuckerbot lives!
The report quotes a Meta spokesperson as saying that ARI will create “models and frontier capabilities for robot control and self-learning to whole-body humanoid control.” The project could eventually lead to what company founder Xiaolong Wang calls “a truly general-purpose physical agent.”
That might sound like a mechanical man with a tendency to creatively misinterpret instructions (and that’s probably the actual case), but we’re not supposed to think of it that way. A vision of an advanced AI-powered assistant bot is considered more appropriate. We’ll have to see what Meta actually generates.
It’s not like the company wasn’t already exploring robotics. Last year, we heard about Reality Labs’ plans to develop household robots. ARI-powered humanoids would fit that bill, but the new acquisition will specifically work with Meta’s Superintelligence Labs.
How long it’ll be before a Meta robot is seen in the wild is anyone’s guess. Since Zuckerberg’s company is still fiddling with software, it’ll likely be a while. We’re still willing to bet that whatever comes out of this will have extensive recording functions.
