Illustration: Figure AI vs. Agility Robotics in the US humanoid race
Tension between two of the perceived leaders in the humanoid robotics race just revealed itself publicly.
In one corner, it’s Figure AI, the aspiring Silicon Valley tech giant and a TIME Magazine pick for Best Invention of 2025. In the other, it’s Agility Robotics, the Oregon research-lab-turned-unicorn and a TIME pick for Best Invention of 2024.
Figure AI and Agility Robotics TIME Magazine covers for Best Invention of 2024-25
The Twitter beef between Figure AI and Agility Robotics started when Figure founder Brett Adcock posted: “One of my proudest moments was sending an autonomous humanoid robot into the real world. To this day, I believe Figure is the first and maybe the only company to achieve this.”
Brett Adcock boasts about Figure 03 deployment on X
The post rubbed someone at Salem, OR-based Agility the wrong way. The startup’s official X account reposted Adcock’s boast with the text: “This has the same energy as the time your friend to you he was the first to make a cool drink by adding lemon juice to water.”
Agility Robotics and Brett Adcock feud on X
Adcock has made a series of bold remarks in recent weeks as he tries to frame his $39B startup’s Figure 03 humanoid as the world’s default general-purposes robot. On Nikhil Kamatht’s popular WTF podcast, the founder jabbed at established players, calling them outdated and failing. He didn’t name names but it’s assumed he means Agility Robotics, Apptronik, Boston Dynamics, 1X Technologies, and maybe Tesla.
“Some of the older generation of robotics companies int he space … have, in some way, kind of collapsed,” Adcock said. “Groups I would watch and look up to 10 years ago have just somewhat faded away.”
Figure founder Brett Adcock on the WTF podcast in November 2025
He said he believes Figure leads the world in humanoid robotics. He also rejected the notion that China is taking a lead in robotics innovation, saying they just “don’t work very well, to be frank.” He accused most of his major competitors of passing off teleoperated humanoid demos as autonomous. He called it “perhaps some of the most deceiving things I’ve ever seen.”
It’s obvious why Agility Robotics would be triggered by his remarks,
The company has been working toward general-purpose humanoids since 2015 when it was spun out of Oregon State University’s Dynamic Robotics Laboratory. Its flagship robot, Digit, was one of the world’s first commercially available humanoid with two legs. Agility says Digit, introduced in 2019, has already operated autonomously for high-profile deployments like Amazon and GXO Logistics.
Agility Robotics’ Digit humanoid robots at work during a 7-hour livestream from Automate 2025 in Detroit (Source: Agility Robotics/YouTube)
In an interview for Mobile World Congress in March 2025, Agility CEO Peggy Johnson said the humanoid revolution has already begun. She said AI is making Digit smarter and easier to use. It integrates with large language models (LLMs) like Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT so Digit can learn new tasks quickly and follow spoken commands.
In a reply to Agility’s repost, Adcock bluntly predicted: “You’ll be bankrupt in <12 months.” He added in a reply to popular the popular X account @TheHumanoidHumanoid it’s due to “poor engineering choices and almost no progress over the past 10 years they’re unlikely to survive as things stand.”
Brett Adcock says Agility Robotics will be bankrupt in under 12 months
Figure founder Brett Adcock explains why he thinks Agility Robotics will go bankrupt in a reply to popular X user/Figure ally @TheHumanoidHub
The Agility Robotics X account extended an olive branch despite Adcock’s prediction: “All jokes aside, we’re big fans of the work your team has done. It will take the entire industry pushing forward at max effort to deliver on our collective promise to society.”
Adcock likely disagrees with the “collective promise” part. He’s repeatedly framed humanoid development as a winner-takes-all race and openly says he wants to grow Figure into the biggest company in the history of everything. Figure operates in relative isolation compared to its peers, rarely participating in major robotics events.
According to Adcock, Figure humanoids are working 10 hours per day at BMW’s Spartanburg, SC plant, the luxury automaker’s largest factory by volume. He’s previously mentioned a second client, and unnamed major logistics provider, which Bloomberg reported is UPS. The CEO described his startup’s mission as designing robots that can “do everything a human can do in the physical world.”
Figure 03 humanoid robot from the startup’s marketing video, highlighting its potential in service (Source: Figure AI)
As of late, Figure has been emphasizing household applications after introducing its third-generation humanoid, the Figure 03. Adcock is betting that aggressive data collection will unlock the so-called ChatGPT moment for general-purpose robotics. He has said he’s so confident in the approach he’s starting household testing two years earlier than anticipated. In that market, Figure’s biggest competitor is Palo Alto-based 1X Tech, which plans to start shipping its $20K humanoids in 2026.
Agility isn’t attempting to enter the consumer market anytime soon. Its approach is far more conservative and pragmatic compared to Figure’s world-conquering ambitions. Under the leadership of CEO Peggy Johnson, the company has emphasized steady scaling, safety, and practical integration into existing logistics workflows.
Both Agility Robotics and Figure say they’re ready for high-rate manufacturing, though they’re both notably vague on how many robots are actually being built. Agility boasts that its RoboFab plant in Oregon can scale to 10,000 Digit units per year while Figure boasts its BotQ facility can scale to 12,000.
It’s safe to assume neither’s output is anywhere near max capacity. If they were, they would be extremely loud about it.
In any case, 2026 is shaping up to be a make-or-break year for the global humanoid race. There will likely be a surge in startups consolidating, acquihires, and bankruptcies. To stay up to date as it all unfolds, subscribe for updates here.