Desk Report:
Meta is planning to invest billions of dollars in creating humanoid robots. A top executive of the company recently said this.
In a recent interview at Meta’s headquarters, CTO (Chief Technology Officer) Andrew Bosworth said that he formed a research team earlier this year at the behest of CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The team will work on robotics. News of the existence of this team has already been published. However, this is the first time he has spoken in detail about the strategy of the project.
Bosworth said, “I don’t think the hardware is the biggest challenge here. But the real obstacle is the software.”
During the interview, Bosworth picked up a glass from a nearby table. Then he said, “If you know about robotics, you will understand that one of the biggest problems is dexterous manipulation. That is, being able to grasp objects skillfully. Robots can stand, run, and even dig. Because the ground is a stable place. But if you try to pick up a glass, it might break or spill water.
Meta is already building its own humanoid robot, which is called ‘Metabot’ internally. However, Bosworth said that their goal is not just to build their own robots. The company also wants to create a software platform that other robot manufacturers can use.
He said that Meta also wants to create the software in such a way that any company can use it if it follows certain specifications. For example, Google licenses software to phone manufacturers.
Meta’s new Super Intelligence AI Lab is now working with the robotics team. Together, they are creating a ‘world model’. This model will be able to move the robot’s hand through the software. Such a hand is called a ‘dexterous hand’. This hand will be able to grasp and move objects very precisely. These tasks will be taught through software simulation.
Demis Hassabis, the head of Google DeepMind, has also talked about such a ‘world model’ before.
“You need a sensor loop for this kind of robot,” Bosworth said. “Like a human can easily take a key out of a jeans pocket, you have to create that data set to teach the robot.”
Meanwhile, Alexander Wang, former CEO of Scale AI, is leading Meta’s new superintelligence AI lab.
When asked about Tesla’s humanoid robot ‘Optimus,’ Bosworth said, “There’s no way to be like Tesla in the way we build robots. They say, ‘We’re not going to use lidar. People can do it with their eyes, so can we—until we get enough data.’”
I understand how Tesla cars get enough data. But I don’t understand how they get data for robots.
Meta’s robotics team is led by Mark Whitten, former CEO of a self-driving company called Cruise.
Bosworth also said that Sangbe Kim from MIT will be on the team. He is currently the ‘world’s leading tactical robotics scientist’.
He is joined by Jinsong Yu, software architect for Orion AR glasses. The robotics engineering team is led by Ning Li, a 15-year Meta employee.
Source: The Verge
