One Small Step for Robots, One Giant Leap to the Courthouse for Figure.ai
After Fortune published a story suggesting Figure may have exaggerated its BMW "fleet," CEO Brett Adcock launched a legal threat, accusing the outlet of defamation and clickbait.
There’s nothing like ending the week with a classic tech startup meltdown — and today, Figure.ai has gifted us a masterpiece.
At 9 a.m. sharp (because drama needs punctuality), Figure CEO Brett Adcock announced that the company’s "litigation counsel" had officially deployed to battle Fortune, after an article questioned whether Figure’s highly hyped "fleet" of humanoid robots at BMW was...well, mostly one robot picking up car parts very slowly while another robot stood in the background.
Adcock’s statement reads like a cross between a State of the Union address and a TikTok influencer announcing they're taking a "mental health break" from the haters. At first, Figure was going to “ignore the noise.” But after thinking really, really hard about it, they decided they must "take action to defend the future of AI and robotics."
Translation: Fortune hurt our feelings, so now it's lawsuit time.
The Fortune article, by Jason Del Rey, pointed out that despite Adcock’s big LinkedIn claims of a "fleet" doing "end-to-end operations," BMW confirmed that Figure’s actual contribution involved one lonely robot moving car parts during off-hours. And even now, during "production hours," it’s still just that one hardworking robo-buddy, carefully transferring metal sheets before the real machinery takes over.
The kicker? According to Fortune, BMW isn’t denying the partnership — they’re just...being weirdly chill about correcting the hype. After all, why rain on the parade when investors are handing out billions like it’s robot prom night?
This drama is the perfect Friday closer: a heady cocktail of Silicon Valley hype, bruised egos, billion-dollar valuations, and the timeless art of suing the tech haters.
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