AI robot company decommissioned its robots ‘Terminator-style’ in a 75-ton vat of molten steel

What happened

AI Robotics company Figure found a creative way of decommissioning its old F.02 fleet without having to allocate resources for difficult and time-consuming disassembly. Figure, a U.S.-based robotics company, decommissioned its old AI robots by making them jump into a 75-ton furnace full of molten steel.

According to the company , maintaining its F.02 fleet no longer made sense as its next-generation F.03 is increasing in numbers. However, it said that disassembling its older robots is difficult and time-consuming — they can’t just pass it off to another third party because it contained a lot of proprietary technology, while assigning an internal team to do it would take people off other important projects like the F.04 model that’s in development.

Company CEO Brett Adcock went on to X to help solve this conundrum, asking the social media platform for ideas for “a proper sendoff.” This is where he got an unexpected reply from the Terminator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger — “You should melt them.”

Key facts

• AI Robotics company Figure — found: a creative way of decommissioning its old F.02 fleet without having to allocate resources for difficult and time-consuming disassembly