Anthony Dang
14.1K posts
@anthonydotnet
Tech Director, Conference Speaker, Umbraco MVP & Master, GitKraken Ambassador, Opensource Contrib, Musician (https://t.co/TF5i7vBZkf https://t.co/PmjD7HtYBo)
The “approve cookie” banner is super annoying. It should be removed.
I had the privilege of touring Figure's Sunnyvale office yesterday, though calling it just an office would be a massive understatement. There's a whole lot more happening under that roof than you'd expect. The first thing that struck me was how densely packed the space is. Around 140 employees work in an open, collaborative area with minimal partitions. It’s clear why they’re moving to a much larger facility to accommodate their growing team and scale up production. The new facility is going to be eight times larger. Brett gave me a full tour, and the energy in the place was palpable. In the test area, I saw a mockup station that simulates a real BMW workstation where an F.02 robot was practicing a dexterous pick-and-place task, while another one, behind curtains, was using OpenAI’s model to handle everyday objects. The production area was equally impressive, with four assembly stations where robots were in different stages of assembly. Brett mentioned they’re currently building around 2-4 robots per week. What’s really remarkable is how many components are made and assembled on-site, from outer shells and wiring harnesses to control systems, actuator parts, fingers, and even the packs that house batteries and the computer. Dyno-testing, calibration, and system-integration testing all happen under one roof. This level of integration requires a full team effort. Designers, software/AI engineers, mechanical and electrical engineers, and robot trainers all work together in harmony. As someone who comes from a software-only domain, I left in awe of the operational complexity required to build a working robot. On the financial front, Brett confidently shared that they’ve got the cash burn under control. At their current rate, they could theoretically operate for 14 years on existing funding, though of course, that will change as manufacturing and operations scale. I also got a sneak peek at their next-gen robot, F.03's design. It’s incredible to see how far the company has come in just 2.5 years, going from nothing to Figure 01, to F.02, and now developing F.03. If they continue at this pace, the next few years are going to be incredibly exciting. Watching a humanoid robot walk around and perform tasks was nothing short of mind-blowing. The future felt a lot closer and more tangible from inside their walls. Huge thanks to @adcock_brett for the tour.
What was your first developer job salary? Mine was $27k Canadian 🇨🇦
