The deal positions Meta directly in a rapidly commercializing humanoid robotics sector, where big tech, automakers and well-funded startups are competing to deploy physical AI at scale.
Founders With Deep Robotics Pedigree
Co-founder Xiaolong Wang is an associate professor at UC San Diego and was previously a researcher at Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA).
Meta Superintelligence Labs head Alexandr Wang welcomed the ARI team on X, underscoring the division’s push into physical AI, an area Meta has been building toward for years.
“We have the potential to transform AI that can think and talk to AI that can do, assisting humans safely and reliably in the physical world,” Pinto wrote on X.
Wang added the team aims to achieve “physical AGI,” saying scaling “will come from learning directly from human experience, not teleoperation alone.”
A Trillion-Dollar Race Takes Shape
The ARI and Fauna acquisitions reflect a broader industry push.
Figure AI, backed by Nvidia, OpenAI and Jeff Bezos, is targeting 100,000 humanoid robot deployments over four years.
Photo Courtesy: Shutterstock
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
© 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.