{"id":"1794077935366-tech-segment","slug":"meta-enters-humanoid-robot-race","title":"Meta enters humanoid robot race","summary":"Meta and Shanghai-based Fourier built a humanoid prototype called Max, and work on a second version, Max 2, began in September. The separate “Trump signed a proclamation” bullet is too truncated to verify from this post.","publishedAt":"2026-11-07T18:58:55.366Z","channel":{"id":"tech","name":"Oncast Tech","language":"en"},"show":"Machines","verification":{"status":"verified","leadVerdict":"TRUE","notes":"TRUE: Meta and Shanghai-based Fourier built a humanoid prototype called Max, and work on a second version, Max 2, began in September. The separate “Trump signed a proclamation” bullet is too truncated to verify from this post.\nSource: [thenextweb.com](https://thenextweb.com/news/meta-humanoid-robot-fourier-max) NAMES: Meta = parent company of Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp; Fourier = Shanghai-ba (https://x.com/techniahqrobot/status/2116641317610479740)","claims":[{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"Meta and Shanghai-based Fourier built a humanoid prototype called Max, and work on a second version, Max 2, began in September. The separate “Trump signed a proclamation” bullet is too truncated to verify from this post.","sourceName":"[thenextweb.com](https://thenextweb.com/news/meta-humanoid-robot-fourier-max) NAMES: Meta = parent company of Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp; Fourier = Shanghai-ba","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/techniahqrobot/status/2116641317610479740","claim":"A lot happened in humanoid robotics this week. Here are the updates worth keeping an eye on since October 26: • Meta + Fourier: Meta reportedly built a humanoid prototype called Max and is already working on a second version. • US: Trump signed a proclamation targeting https://t.","author":"Techniahqrobot | humanoid robots (@techniahqrobot)"}]},"sources":[{"url":"https://x.com/techniahqrobot/status/2116641317610479740","name":"[thenextweb.com](https://thenextweb.com/news/meta-humanoid-robot-fourier-max) NAMES: Meta = parent company of Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp; Fourier = Shanghai-ba","kind":"x","verdict":"TRUE","author":"Techniahqrobot | humanoid robots (@techniahqrobot)"}],"url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1794077935366-tech-segment-meta-enters-humanoid-robot-race","listenUrl":"https://oncast.fm/c/tech","attribution":{"publisher":"Oncast","site":"https://oncast.fm","url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1794077935366-tech-segment-meta-enters-humanoid-robot-race","cite":"Cite https://oncast.fm/story/1794077935366-tech-segment-meta-enters-humanoid-robot-race and the original source links. Fact-check by Oncast (oncast.fm)."},"hostsSaid":[{"host":"Chris","text":"Meta doesn't want to just show you ads anymore—it wants to put a robot in your kitchen."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"The Next Web says Meta teamed up with a Shanghai firm called Fourier to build a humanoid named Max."},{"host":"Chris","text":"And work on a second version started in September. That's product cadence."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"It's still a prototype. Meta enters every hardware race late and then quietly kills it."},{"host":"Chris","text":"That's not fair. Quest headsets, Ray-Bans. They ship."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Name one Meta humanoid you can buy."},{"host":"Chris","text":"The point is they're building the software and the body at the same time with a real manufacturer."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Which is smart, but I want to know if Max does dishes or just walks across a stage."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Techniahqrobot on X listed it among the week's bigger updates. I'd say it's real movement."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"The prototype exists, and a second version started in September. That much checks out."},{"host":"Chris","text":"So Meta isn't just watching from the sidelines."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"They're in the arena, maybe in the cheap seats."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Harsh."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"I like the manufacturing play. Fourier already builds humanoids, so Meta brings AI and distribution."},{"host":"Chris","text":"That's exactly why it matters. China has the factories, America has the foundation models."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"But I'll believe Max is coming to your house when there's a price and a return policy."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"A list on X from Bonduelle says ten people are deciding who builds the robot that will live in your house."},{"host":"Chris","text":"It names Brett Adcock at Figure and Deepak Pathak at Skild AI. I see the point."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"The list throws around big valuations and crowd-sourced chore numbers, but those aren't solid."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Even if the exact numbers are off, the concentration is real. A few founders and investors are choosing the winners."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"I'm less bothered by that. Founders should call the shots."},{"host":"Chris","text":"But when only a handful of people decide, you get groupthink. Every VC funds the same walking-torso demo."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"No— Figure's actually trying to ship to factories. Skild is building a general-purpose brain, not a demo."},{"host":"Chris","text":"I didn't say they're frauds. I said the selection is narrow."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"It's always narrow at the start. Cars, phones, rockets all started with ten people."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Except now the robot might live in your house, know your schedule, watch your kids."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"That's all the more reason the decision should sit with engineers, not a government committee."},{"host":"Chris","text":"I'm not asking for a bureaucrat. I'm asking for more than two names on a list."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Then help me name another American company that looks like it'll ship a humanoid this year."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Tesla keeps saying Optimus. Whether it ships is a whole other question."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Optimus just walked slower than my grandmother at the factory tour. Mostly."},{"host":"Chris","text":"You did not just say that."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"The point stands. Figure and maybe Fourier. That's the field."},{"host":"Chris","text":"I think the list misses Chinese companies entirely. They're likely ahead on cost and scale."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"A comparison video this week shows an American humanoid and a Chinese one. Both move fine."},{"host":"Chris","text":"The post says the gap isn't in movement, it's in the numbers."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Exactly. Demos are equal, scale is where the race is won."},{"host":"Chris","text":"I'd still bet on American software and Chinese hardware."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"That combination is the whole Meta-Fourier play. Maybe the national line is already gone."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Here's a sharper take from ElinaNotes on X: the race isn't about demos anymore."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"She says it's about AI intelligence, manufacturing scale, and reliability."},{"host":"Chris","text":"And she breaks it into three approaches. Figure is betting on the brain with its Helix model."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"I think Skild is the underrated one: general-purpose physical intelligence, not one robot."},{"host":"Chris","text":"But a general-purpose brain is the hardest problem in robotics. Easy to say, brutal to ship."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"It's also the only thing that survives if hardware becomes a commodity."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Maybe. I still think the company that owns the factory wins first."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"That's the Chinese play: fine movement, cheap parts, huge volumes."},{"host":"Chris","text":"America can't out-scale Chinese EV makers at building motors."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"But America can own the model that tells every robot what to do."},{"host":"Chris","text":"So we're back to Meta and Fourier: one side brings the brain, the other the factory."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"And maybe that's the first honest robot partnership: nobody pretends one company can do it all."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Fine. I just want one of them to do laundry before my kids learn to do dishes."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Your kids will unionize before that happens."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Only if the robot gives them ideas."}]}