Meta teams up with Fourier to build a humanoid robot prototype in 3 months, aiming to give Muse hands and feet.

Beating AI News Flash: Meta partnered with Shanghai Fourier Intelligence to build a humanoid robot prototype, Max, in just three months. Max was developed based on the hardware and technical accumulation of Fourier's previous three generations of humanoid robots. Meta mainly adjusted the body proportions, head design, and cameras, and added components such as hands. Meta's Vice President of Robotics Products also stayed at Fourier's Shanghai factory for nearly two months, completing an internal demonstration at the end of August.

When Meta established its robotics team last year, it wanted to build the "Android" of the robotics world: developing its own AI software so that robots from different manufacturers could all use it. CTO Bosworth pointed out at the time that running and jumping were no longer the hardest part for robots; the real bottleneck was fine manipulation. For example, picking up a cup of water requires neither crushing the cup nor spilling the water. This requires AI to understand the physical world and master precise control of force and movement.

Partnering with Fourier allows Meta to conduct such experiments faster without developing the robot body from scratch. Max is about 1.5 meters tall, equipped with NVIDIA's Jetson Thor chip, and its five-fingered hands can pick up small bottles and toys. In September, the two sides also launched Max 2, focusing on improving two-handed manipulation and the ability to go up and down stairs.

Meta hopes to eventually give Muse AI agents bodies so they can enter homes and complete practical tasks.