No, Apple and Meta aren’t making humanoid robots

Tech press-landi and the tech blogosphere were abuzz last week with news that both Apple, the company that makes the iPhone, and Meta, the company that makes everybody on Facebook confront a daily flood of horrible AI-generated slop, are making full-size, humanoid robots.

The trouble is, they’re not doing that. Here’s what’s really happening. 

Don’t call Apple’s robot the “iRobot”

TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo wrote on the X social network on Feb. 12 that “Apple is exploring both humanoid and non-humanoid robots for its future smart home ecosystem.”

According to Kuo, these products are in the proof-of-concept stage and will enter production in 2028 or later.

Apple’s proof-of-concept stage for any possible product direction is exactly what it sounds like. They’re exploring possibilities, and in that exploration, they’re already leaning away from the humanoid robot, based on the very limited information we have. 

Kuo said in his tweet that Apple uses the word “anthropomorphic” instead of “humanoid” because it cares more about user perception of the device rather than its form. Even at this very early stage, Apple is already banning the H-word internally. 

The experimental lamp robot I wrote about recently uses humanlike “body language” but is shaped like a lamp. It’s “anthropomorphic” but not “humanoid.” Apple is investing in a systematic exploration of “robots” that express themselves in reaction to a human user without that robot looking anything at all like a person and even without robot speech.

Apple’s first “robot” will likely be an Apple HomePod that moves. Internally code-named J595, the device has been described by leakers as having an iPad-like display at the end of a robotic arm that tilts, rotates, and moves. It locates and “faces” the user during their interactions or when the user is making a FaceTime call using it. Based on Apple Intelligence, the gadget might be used for controlling smart home devices and security systems. 

One reasonable expectation is that Apple’s research for making home appliances “anthropomorphic” but not “humanoid” will be applied to the device. That research, which I detailed last week, is called ELEGNT. But it’s not just a science project. ELEGNT is a framework for designing movement in non-anthropomorphic robots. It combines functional attributes (like task efficiency) with expressive qualities (such as conveying intention, attention, and emotions) to create a better user experience. 

Apple reportedly aims to launch the tabletop robot by 2026 or 2027, with an estimated price of around $1,000.

When will it ship the humanoid robot Kuo held out as a possibility? There’s no evidence to suggest Apple ever will. I think it’s extremely unlikely. 

No humanoid robot coming from Meta, either 

Those claiming that Meta is planning humanoid robots aren’t reading the fine print, either. 

What’s really happening is that Meta has formed a new team inside its Reality Labs hardware division headed by Marc Whitten (former CEO of self-driving car company Cruise) to work on developing sensors, AI and other software; those products can then be sold to companies building humanoid robots, such as Unitree Robotics and Figure AI, according to reporting by Bloomberg. Meta apparently believes in the vision of consumer robots, the size and shape of people, who cook, clean, and mow the lawn. 

Why would the social networking company formerly known as Facebook want to be involved in creating Rosey the Robot? The answer can be found in an internal memo written by Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth and seen by Bloomberg: “The core technologies we’ve already invested in and built across Reality Labs and AI are complementary to developing the advancements needed for robotics. We believe that expanding our portfolio to invest in this field will only accrue value to Meta AI and our mixed and augmented reality programs.”

My own fear is that, given the Meta tools I written about before — including tools where social media users can clone themselves and have AI avatars interact with followers —Meta might want to extend this paradigm into the real world and have robots interacting with others in the real world on behalf of Meta customers. 

Building robots can “only accrue value to Meta AI and our mixed and augmented reality programs” if users are seeing through the eyes of their robot avatar using Meta mixed-reality glasses. 

(Meta is very much one of those torment nexus companies that scour 20th-century dystopian sci-fi looking for bad ideas to make real.)

How to understand the Applebots and Metadroids

What’s really happening here is that Apple is just being Apple, and Meta is just being Meta as we slide into the Age of Robotics.

Apple wants to use robotics technologies to improve the user experience of its consumer electronics, delighting users with friendly, responsive products via AI and robotics. 

Meta wants to use robotics to get people to “socially network” with non-human entities, possibly by having cameras and sensors in the home that can harvest personal data. 

One of the big challenges for both companies is personnel. The companies compete with hundreds of other companies and universities for rare robotics talent. It’s likely this is one reason Apple is publishing research like the ELEGNT project — it’s a way to get robotics researchers interested in working for the company.

But as surprising as these companies’ entry into the robot business may seem, it’s only surprising if you don’t appreciate the impact robotics will have on the world over the next decade.

The total value of the robotics market is projected to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars by 2035. Robots of varying kinds will appear in factories, offices, healthcare, and homes.

The coming ubiquity of robotics is a near certainty. What’s far less clear is the form these robots will take. Will they be mechanical humans — humanoid robots that directly assist and replace people just as people would? Or will everyday appliances simply become robotic? In other words, will our lawns be mowed by more advanced versions of today’s automated mowers, and our floors swept and mopped by more advanced versions of today’s home-cleaning robots? Or will a humanoid robot push a mower and use a mop? 

Certainly both, right? In the meantime, the major Silicon Valley companies need to compete for robotics engineers and designers so they can set themselves up for success in the future, and figure out where their missions align with what’s possible in future products. 

Of course, Apple and Meta are working on and investing in robotics — and, for that matter, so are Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and all the usual suspects. They’d be irresponsible not to.

The robots are coming. And if Silicon Valley wants to stay relevant, they’re going to need robots of their own.

But don’t expect humanoid robots to be built and sold by either Apple or Meta.