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US Big Tech firm (Facebook / Instagram / WhatsApp / Reality Labs). As of May 1, 2026, formally a humanoid-robotics operator: acquired Assured Robot…

Big Tech / Humanoid AI · Humanoid

US Big Tech firm (Facebook / Instagram / WhatsApp / Reality Labs). As of May 1, 2026, formally a humanoid-robotics operator: acquired Assured Robot Intelligence (ARI) and folded the team into Meta Superintelligence Labs, alongside its existing in-house Meta Robotics Studio (stood up 2025). Stated plan is to build humanoid hardware, sensors, and AI in-house and make portions of the stack available across the broader industry. Concurrently executing an announced ~10% workforce reduction (~8,000 roles) with layoffs starting May 20, 2026.

Recent moves

  • 2026-05-01: Closed acquisition of Assured Robot Intelligence (foundation models for humanoids); terms not disclosed.
  • 2026 Q1/Q2: Announced ~10% workforce reduction; layoffs scheduled to begin 2026-05-20.
  • 2026-05-20: ~8,000-position cut day executing — Singapore notifications at 4 a.m. local; engineering and product hit first; ~6,000 open requisitions also cancelled. Zuckerberg's public framing: teams don't need to be as large because AI tools are completing work faster. Janelle Gale internal memo frame: "organisational changes to improve efficiency." See 2026-05-20-meta-8k-cut-day-begins.
  • 2025: Established Meta Robotics Studio inside Reality Labs / Superintelligence Labs to build humanoid hardware + AI in-house.

Key people

  • Mark Zuckerberg — CEO
  • Lerrel Pinto — ARI co-founder, now Meta Superintelligence Labs (research)
  • Xiaolong Wang — ARI co-founder (ex-NVIDIA, UC San Diego), now Meta Superintelligence Labs (research)

First seen: 2026-05-03 · Last seen: 2026-05-24 · 11 mentions