Meta Bets Big on Humanoid Robots with ARI acquisition

Meta Platforms has acquired humanoid robotics startup Assured Robot Intelligence (ARI) for an undisclosed amount, integrating its team into the company’s Superintelligence Labs as part of a broader strategy to expand into physical AI.

In a statement, Meta described ARI as operating “at the frontier of robotic intelligence,” focused on enabling machines to interpret, anticipate and adapt to human behavior in dynamic real-world environments.

According to reports, the startup had been developing foundational AI models for humanoid robots capable of performing physical tasks, including household work.

Strengthening Push Toward Physical AI and Humanoid Control

ARI’s co-founders, Xiaolong Wang and Lerrel Pinto, will join Meta’s AI division. Wang, previously affiliated with Nvidia and the University of California, San Diego and Pinto, formerly at New York University, bring extensive academic and industry expertise. Pinto also co-founded Fauna Robotics, a small-scale humanoid robotics venture recently acquired by Amazon.

Meta said the team will contribute to advancing “whole-body humanoid control” systems, combining robot learning, self-adaptation and real-world interaction capabilities.

The decision aligns with internal research efforts — a previously leaked memo had outlined Meta’s long-term ambitions to build consumer-oriented humanoid robots integrating both hardware and AI models.

The acquisition also reflects a growing consensus among AI researchers that achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI) may require training systems in physical environments, where machines learn through interaction rather than static datasets.

Meta’s Superintelligence Labs head Alexandr Wang said, “We are moving from systems that primarily understand language to systems that can take actions and operate in the real world,” emphasizing a shift from AI systems that primarily process language to those capable of executing real-world tasks.

The ARI acquisition comes amid intensifying competition in humanoid robotics, with major technology firms, automakers and startups racing to commercialize physical AI.

Goldman Sachs estimates the sector could reach $38 billion by 2035, while Morgan Stanley forecasts growth to as much as $5 trillion by 2050.