The startup Figure AI develops humanoid general-purpose robots.
Figure AI
Figure AI, a Nvidia-backed developer of humanoid robots has been sued by the startup’s former head of product safety, who claimed he was wrongfully terminated after warning top executives that the company’s robots were “strong enough to fracture a human skull.”
Robert Gruendel, a senior robotics safety engineer, is the plaintiff in the lawsuit filed Friday in federal court in the Northern District of California. Gruendel’s lawyers describe their client as a whistleblower who was fired in September, just days after he filed his “most direct and documented safety complaints.”
The lawsuit comes two months after Figure was valued at $39 billion in a funding round led by Parkway Venture Capital. That’s a 15-fold increase in valuation since early 2024, when the company raised a round of funding from investors including Jeff Bezos, Nvidia and Microsoft.
In the lawsuit, Gruendel’s lawyers say the plaintiff warned Figure CEO Brett Adcock and chief engineer Kyle Edelberg about the robot’s deadly capabilities, saying one had “already carved a ¼-inch cut into a steel refrigerator door when it malfunctioned.”
The complaint also says Gruendel warned company executives not to downgrade a “security roadmap” he was supposed to present to two potential investors who ultimately funded the company.
Gruendel feared that a “product safety plan that contributed to their investment decision” had been “gutted” the same month Figure closed the investment round, a move that “could be interpreted as fraud,” the lawsuit says.
The plaintiff’s concerns were treated “as obstacles, not liabilities,” and the company cited a “vague ‘change in business direction’ as a pretext” for his termination, the lawsuit says.
Gruendel is seeking economic, compensatory and punitive damages and is asking for a jury trial.
A Figure spokesman said in an emailed statement that Gruendel was “terminated for poor performance” and that his “allegations are falsehoods that Figure will thoroughly discredit in court.”
Robert Ottinger, Gruendel’s attorney, told CNBC in a statement, “California law protects employees who report unsafe practices.”
“This case addresses important and emerging issues and could be one of the first whistleblower cases related to the safety of humanoid robots,” Ottinger said. “Mr. Gruendel looks forward to the trial, which will demonstrate the clear danger this rush-to-market approach poses to the public.”
The market for humanoid robots is still emerging today, with companies like Tesla and Boston Dynamics is pursuing forward-looking offerings alongside Figure, while China’s Unitree Robotics prepares for an IPO. Morgan Stanley said in a report in May that adoption “is likely to accelerate in the 2030s” and could exceed $5 trillion by 2050.
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