The Internet can't stop watching Figure AI's humanoid robots handling packages

Key points

• The robotics startup Figure AI has been livestreaming humanoid robots placing thousands of packages onto a conveyor belt for nearly a week—a spectacle that included a robot competing against a human intern at one point.
• The promotional robot demo has become a viral sensation among tech enthusiasts, spurring YouTube commenters to name the robots and the company to rapidly roll out related robot merchandise in response.
• Users on X have described the livestream in glowing terms, such as “the greatest product demo since Steve Jobs’ ‘one more thing.’” But despite such sentiments, it’s worth bearing in mind that even the most impressive robot demos represent narrow windows for understanding real-world robot capabilities.
• Figure’s event began on May 13 as a planned eight-hour robot demonstration featuring the company’s latest Figure 03 robots.
• The chosen robotic task involved inspecting the bar codes on various small packages—including cardboard boxes and soft padded envelopes...