{"id":"1793747369828-tech-segment","slug":"iphone-camera-supplier-now-builds-robot-eyes","title":"iPhone camera supplier now builds robot eyes","summary":"The Information reported that Meta built a humanoid robot prototype called “Max” with Chinese robotics firm Fourier and is working on a second version. Boston Dynamics, Figure AI, and Tesla are also publicly known to be working on humanoid robots.\n\nLG Innotek is a major Apple iPhone camera-module supplier and has supply/development relationships for humanoid robot camera and vision components with Figure AI and Boston Dynamics.","publishedAt":"2026-11-03T23:09:29.828Z","channel":{"id":"tech","name":"Oncast Tech","language":"en"},"show":"Tech Tonight","verification":{"status":"verified","leadVerdict":"TRUE","notes":"TRUE: The Information reported that Meta built a humanoid robot prototype called “Max” with Chinese robotics firm Fourier and is working on a second version. Boston Dynamics, Figure AI, and Tesla are also publicly known to be working on humanoid robots.\nSource: [sillectus.com](https://sillectus.com/articles/humanoid-robots-where-things-stand/) and [notebookcheck.net](https://www.notebookcheck.net/Meta-puts-its-AI-on-tw (https://x.com/darkmodein2099/status/2117626088343978067)\n\nTRUE: LG Innotek is a major Apple iPhone camera-module supplier and has supply/development relationships for humanoid robot camera and vision components with Figure AI and Boston Dynamics.\nSource: [koreatimes.co.kr](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/business/tech-science/20260210/lg-innotek-accelerates-camera-sensor-biz-for-humanoid-robots) and [biz.chosun.com (https://x.com/Humanoid_Invest/status/2117732817039737191)","claims":[{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"The Information reported that Meta built a humanoid robot prototype called “Max” with Chinese robotics firm Fourier and is working on a second version. Boston Dynamics, Figure AI, and Tesla are also publicly known to be working on humanoid robots.","sourceName":"[sillectus.com](https://sillectus.com/articles/humanoid-robots-where-things-stand/) and [notebookcheck.net](https://www.notebookcheck.net/Meta-puts-its-AI-on-tw","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/darkmodein2099/status/2117626088343978067","claim":"Meta has built a humanoid robot prototype with Chinese robotics company Fourier and is already working on a second version, according to The Information. We've got Boston Dynamics working on humanoid robots. Figure AI is working on humanoid robots. Tesla is working on humanoid","author":"Darkmode (@darkmodein2099)"},{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"LG Innotek is a major Apple iPhone camera-module supplier and has supply/development relationships for humanoid robot camera and vision components with Figure AI and Boston Dynamics.","sourceName":"[koreatimes.co.kr](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/business/tech-science/20260210/lg-innotek-accelerates-camera-sensor-biz-for-humanoid-robots) and [biz.chosun.com","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/Humanoid_Invest/status/2117732817039737191","claim":"$011070 LG Innotek LG Innotek makes the camera modules in your iPhone. It’s one of the world’s best at packing high-end optics into tiny, high-volume parts. A humanoid needs the same thing: many cameras and 3D sensors, plus the ability to build them at scale. The customer list ht","author":"Greg (@Humanoid_Invest)"}]},"sources":[{"url":"https://x.com/darkmodein2099/status/2117626088343978067","name":"[sillectus.com](https://sillectus.com/articles/humanoid-robots-where-things-stand/) and [notebookcheck.net](https://www.notebookcheck.net/Meta-puts-its-AI-on-tw","kind":"x","verdict":"TRUE","author":"Darkmode (@darkmodein2099)"},{"url":"https://x.com/Humanoid_Invest/status/2117732817039737191","name":"[koreatimes.co.kr](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/business/tech-science/20260210/lg-innotek-accelerates-camera-sensor-biz-for-humanoid-robots) and [biz.chosun.com","kind":"x","verdict":"TRUE","author":"Greg (@Humanoid_Invest)"}],"url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1793747369828-tech-segment-iphone-camera-supplier-now-builds-robot-eyes","listenUrl":"https://oncast.fm/c/tech","attribution":{"publisher":"Oncast","site":"https://oncast.fm","url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1793747369828-tech-segment-iphone-camera-supplier-now-builds-robot-eyes","cite":"Cite https://oncast.fm/story/1793747369828-tech-segment-iphone-camera-supplier-now-builds-robot-eyes and the original source links. Fact-check by Oncast (oncast.fm)."},"hostsSaid":[{"host":"Matilda","text":"LG Innotek is the company that builds the camera module in your iPhone. Now it's selling eyes to humanoid robots."},{"host":"Chris","text":"That's the quiet part of the robot boom—a real supplier with real volume already shifting over."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Greg on X, who follows humanoid investing, posted the case. LG Innotek already packs high-end optics into tiny high-volume parts for Apple."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Right. A humanoid needs many cameras and 3D sensors, and it needs them built at scale."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"And this is not a render. Greg says LG Innotek already has supply work with Figure AI and Boston Dynamics."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Those are two of the biggest names in humanoid robots. That's a legitimate customer list."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"For vision components, yes. The camera modules and sensors that let the machines see."},{"host":"Chris","text":"I'll say it—the humanoid supply chain is becoming a real business. LG doesn't chase science projects."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Let's not get carried away. Shipping development kits to Figure is not ten million robot eyes."},{"host":"Chris","text":"That's how every hardware ramp starts. Apple didn't ship a hundred million iPhones in year one either."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Oh come on, Apple was selling to consumers. There is no consumer market for a robot that costs more than a car."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Not yet. But warehouses and factories are already testing them."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Testing, Chris—pilot programs that can die quietly."},{"host":"Chris","text":"You said the same thing about electric cars, and look what happened."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"I said electric cars were late and overpriced. I was right about the timeline."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Fine! But suppliers still built the battery plants first. That's exactly what's happening here."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Supplier investment can also mean they're hedging, not that the market is real."},{"host":"Chris","text":"It's a socket. You need the socket before the product line."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"It's a press release and two engineering samples. Call me when the factory line runs."},{"host":"Chris","text":"You'll be the last one to buy a robot."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"I'll be the one who doesn't get fired for buying a robot that costs more than a car."},{"host":"Chris","text":"There it is. The market."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Different corner of the same race: a clip is going around of Musk on why robot hands are so hard."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Robotics.biz on X says he called hands \"shockingly difficult\"—precision and force in one motion, touch sensors that survive wear, skin made to be replaced."},{"host":"Chris","text":"I don't need the exact quote to see the point. The Optimus hand has over a hundred small parts, many still assembled by hand."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"That's the actual story: the most advanced robot hand still needs human fingers to put it together. That's a bottleneck."},{"host":"Chris","text":"It shows why the hand is the hardest part. If they solve that, everything else gets easier."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Or it shows we're years away from robots building robots."},{"host":"Chris","text":"You're moving the goalposts. The claim was hands are difficult, not finished."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Fine, the exact quote is unverified, but the difficulty is not."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"That's the thing about these clips. The quote gets cut, shared, translated, and suddenly it's gospel."},{"host":"Chris","text":"The underlying engineering problem is real though."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Sure. But the hype machine is also real."},{"host":"Chris","text":"And the rumor mill has Boston Dynamics aiming much bigger."},{"host":"Chris","text":"The Embodied Era on X points to a Korea Economic Daily report: Atlas suppliers were told to prepare for ten thousand robots by the end of 2027."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Unnamed industry sources. So take it for what it is."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Even half that number would be a massive leap from where Atlas is today."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Atlas does backflips in a lab. That's not ten thousand units in a factory."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Hyundai owns Boston Dynamics. They have real assembly lines. If anyone can scale it, they can."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Maybe. But \"reportedly\" and \"could\" are doing a lot of work in that sentence."},{"host":"Chris","text":"All I'm saying is the robot supply chain is no longer a science fair."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"No, it's a supply chain audition. And the buyers are still kicking the tires."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Kicking tires is a step, Matilda. Last year they were just drawings."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Fair. Drawings to tires is something."},{"host":"Chris","text":"And tires to ten thousand units—that's the jump we're debating."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"And I'll believe it when the first invoice ships."}]}