Figure developed a new Helix AI that lets you control robots made for the home by voice to help you with all sorts of chores.

Facebook parent Meta is entering the competitive field of humanoid robotics, joining rivals such as Nvidia-backed Figure AI and Tesla, as the emergence of advanced AI models drive

Yet in the tech sector the humanoid robot is the cultural handmaiden to another holy grail: artificial general intelligence. This week, Meta was reported to be following Tesla, Apple, and Nvidia in planning a big investment into AI-powered humanoid robots.

Norwegian robotics firm 1X unveiled its latest home robot, Neo Gamma, on Friday. The humanoid system will succeed Neo Beta, which debuted in August. Like its predecessors, the Neo Gamma is a prototype designed for testing in the home environment.

Meta is looking to be the go-to marketplace for robo-tech, with the company planning to develop its own humanoid robot hardware and later become a lead developer of the robots' AI-based backbone. The effort will be spearheaded by a new hardware division in Meta's Reality Labs (Quest VR and Ray-Ban smart glasses),