Humanoid robots are Meta's next 'AR-size bet' (www.theverge.com)

Meta has quietly turned humanoid robots into its next “AR-size bet,” launching a research effort to build a software-first platform for humanoid robots while treating its in-house “Metabot” hardware as a proof point rather than the end product. CTO Andrew Bosworth says the company will likely spend billions and intends to license the software stack to other robot makers, similar to how Google licenses Android. Leadership includes Marc Whitten running robotics and collaborations with Meta’s new Superintelligence lab (led in part by ex-Scale CEO Alexandr Wang), and hires like roboticist Sangbae Kim, signaling the company is assembling top talent for a long-term push. Technically, Meta frames software — not actuators or motors — as the bottleneck: dexterous manipulation (e.g., picking up a glass or keys) requires a closed sensor loop, massive datasets and a “world model” to simulate and animate fine hand movements. Meta plans to build simulation-driven datasets and models to give robots spatial awareness and touch-sensitive control, and is evaluating silicon/backbone partnerships (Nvidia, Qualcomm, etc.). Bosworth contrasts this with Tesla’s vision-only, data-centric Optimus approach, arguing there isn’t an obvious path to collecting the necessary robotic data at scale. If successful, Meta’s platform-licensing strategy could accelerate humanoid development by standardizing software across diverse hardware.