Meta is betting on humanoid robots as its next major technology move. Its internal project, called “Metabot,” is backed by a robotics research team led by a former Cruise/Captain exec. Meta plans to lean into software and simulation rather than building hardware itself, licensing its robotics software to manufacturers. While the hardware is expensive and difficult, the company views the software — especially AI models for physical tasks like dexterous manipulation — as the greater challenge. Meta sees tight integration between its Superintelligence AI lab and robotics group, building data models and training loops to simulate real-world interaction. The effort is framed as similar to Meta’s AR/VR ambitions: long-term, high risk, potentially transformative.
