Overview
- Figure AI staged a 10-hour package-sorting race at its San Jose site, where an intern processed 12,924 items versus the robot’s 12,732.
- The company said the humanoid worked fully autonomously with no remote control during the contest.
- The human competitor took required rest and meal breaks under California labor law, and the robot briefly moved ahead before the final tally.
- Viewers and experts noted errors such as barcodes placed face up, boxes knocked off the belt, and damaged labels, with roboticist Ayanna Howard saying the system is not ready for deployment.
- The showdown capped a viral livestream that has shown long, continuous sorting runs and drawn millions of views, which Figure casts as evidence of rapid progress.