Report: UPS Considering Partnership With Robotics Startup Figure AI

UPS and Figure AI are reportedly considering a partnership in which the robotics startup’s humanoid robots would perform some tasks in the logistics company’s operations.

Discussions between the two companies are ongoing, Bloomberg reported Monday (April 28), citing unnamed sources.

UPS said in the report that it wouldn’t discuss potential vendor partners and that it regularly explores a wide range of technologies, including robotics.

The functions that would be performed by the robots in a potential partnership is not clear, the report said.

The report added that Figure AI posted a video on X in February that showed robots sorting small parcels on a conveyor belt.

Figure AI announced in February that it raised $675 million in a Series B funding round. In conjunction with this investment, the company said it entered into a collaboration agreement with OpenAI to develop AI models for humanoid robots and will leverage Microsoft Azure for AI infrastructure, training and storage.

“Our vision at Figure is to bring humanoid robots into commercial operations as soon as possible,” Figure Founder and CEO Brett Adcock said in the Feb. 29 press release. “This investment, combined with our partnership with OpenAI and Microsoft, ensures that we are well prepared to bring embodied AI into the world to make a transformative impact on humanity.”

The investment reflected growing excitement in the field of robotics due to AI, PYMNTS reported in February.

“AI can better enable robots to better understand their environments, allowing them to better detect objects and people they come across,” Sarah Sebo, an assistant professor of computer science at the University of Chicago, where she directs the Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) Lab, told PYMNTS at the time.

In March, The Bot Company, which is developing AI software and hardware for humanoid robots that can do household tasks, raised $150 million in a funding round that brought its total funding raised to $300 million.

In January, humanoid robotics firm 1X acquired robotics startup Kind Humanoid, saying the move united two teams who aim to advance humanoid technology. Kind Humanoid developed a bipedal humanoid robot that is designed for home use and for fields like healthcare.