Figure Melted Its Figure 02 Androids in Molten Metal with Schwarzenegger
Watching multimillion-dollar humanoid robotics turn into bubbling soup is peak Silicon Valley theatrics. Instead of letting old models gather dust, engineers decided to give their retired iron the most cinematic execution imaginable.
American robotics startup Figure has officially initiated the sunset protocol for its humanoid fleet, replacing the Figure 02 lineup with the upcoming Figure 03. Rather than quietly recycling or repurposing the hardware, the company shipped units to a metallurgical foundry in Imatra, Finland, where they were lowered into a vat of molten metal.
The execution video, posted on the firm's website to announce the end of life for the generation, recreates the climax of Terminator 2: Judgment Day down to the slow mechanical descent. The concept was not concocted in an executive brainstorming room, but originated as a social media suggestion by Arnold Schwarzenegger himself in response to a post by Figure leadership asking what to do with the retired bots. The Hollywood veteran even agreed to take part in the production.
Behind the cinematic homage lies cold corporate calculus: maintaining legacy Figure 02 infrastructure was deemed far too expensive alongside development of future generations. Crucially, the total thermal annihilation prevents industrial espionage and reverse-engineering while freeing engineering teams to focus solely on rolling out the third generation and developing the fourth.
The corporate lifecycle of modern artificial intelligence now moves so fast that hardware cannot even survive long enough to become museum pieces before being incinerated. Disposing of cutting-edge robotics like yesterday's disposable cups makes for spectacular cinema, yet it highlights the sheer ruthlessness of hardware obsolescence in the race for venture capital dominance.
Source: X
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