Figure robot is a scam

[Legend]

Today we're showing Helix 02 that can tidy a living room fully autonomously

Figure is designed so when you leave the house, your home resets exactly how you like it pic.twitter.com/wvAVoheVoC

— Figure (@Figure_robot) March 9, 2026

A really cool scam. A really impressive scam. A not a scam scam.

But they are overselling this demo. It is not autonomous like they claim. It is not teleoperated either. I'm pretty sure both this and the dishwasher demo are simply playing back a scripted animation. A dynamic animation that is quasi autonomous, but a scripted animation nevertheless.

They have never discussed teaching the robot what the goal is. A real human, if thrown into a new kitchen or living room and told to clean up, would need to explore a bit. Would need to figure out what the cleaned up state actually is. Yet instead Figure just says "look it is doing it autonomously!" Hence it obviously only works in this specific living room. It of course could support variations, it's far more than just playing the animation and calling it a day, but it is certainly not generalized yet.

Also they gave the game away by having it toss the pillow into the corner. That is a style point. Same with how it holds the basket under its arm, same with throwing the towel over the shoulder. Very impressive! But specifically set up by the engineers to happen.