Tesla's Solo Run Met by Meta's Entry... "Aiming to Maximize Llama Functionality"

The humanoid robot field, dominated by Tesla, is expanding as other big tech companies are reportedly preparing to enter the competition.

On the 14th (local time), Bloomberg reported that Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is forming a new division to develop AI-based humanoid robots.

Meta's Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Andrew Bosworth recently stated in an internal memo that the new team will "focus on research and development related to consumer humanoid robots, aiming to maximize the capabilities of the Llama platform."

Llama is Meta's AI model, and the company plans to use it to develop human-like robots for use in homes and other settings. Meta intends to establish the humanoid robot team within its Reality Labs division. Reality Labs is an organization that has been researching in preparation for the metaverse era (3D virtual worlds), including virtual reality headsets.

Initially, Meta is considering developing its own humanoid robot hardware for household chores and aims to create AI, sensors, and software that can be integrated into robots developed by various companies.

To this end, Meta has reportedly begun discussions on humanoid robot development with China's Unitree Robotics and Figure AI, which is considered a rival to Tesla's Optimus.

Meta's entry comes just one day after news surfaced that Google made large-scale investments in related startups. Robot developer Aptronic announced on the 13th that it secured $350 million (508 billion KRW) in funding, with Google among the investors.

Aptronic is considered a competitor to Tesla's humanoid robot, Optimus. Like Optimus, Aptronic is currently developing an industrial humanoid robot called Apollo.

Currently, Tesla is regarded as the leader in humanoid robot development and plans to deploy the Optimus robot in factories this year.