Meta Acquires Robot AI Startup Assured

Meta Platforms Inc. announced on Friday the acquisition of Assured Robot Intelligence Inc., a San Diego-based startup specializing in artificial intelligence software for humanoid robots, for an undisclosed sum. The deal brings the startup's team, including co-founders Lerrel Pinto and Xiaolong Wang, into Meta's Superintelligence Labs, which oversees the company's AI and robotics initiatives.

The acquisition aims to accelerate Meta's development of advanced robot control systems, foundation models for physical tasks, and self-learning techniques that enable robots to adapt through trial and error. A Meta spokesperson stated that the team "will bring deep expertise in how we can design our models and frontier capabilities for robot control and self-learning to whole-body humanoid control." ARI, which had raised a seed round from investor Aix Ventures, focused on AI that helps robots understand, predict, and respond to human behavior in complex environments.

Pinto, who previously co-founded Fauna Robotics—a humanoid robot startup acquired by Amazon in March—taught at New York University and has received awards for robotics research. Wang, an associate professor at the University...