AI
“ Plant Spartanburg is the birthplace of humanoid robotics in BMW Manufacturing’ s operational day-today activities,” says Ulrich Wieland, Vice President of Production Control and Logistics at BMW Manufacturing.“ Having already successfully completed a pilot with Figure 02 in our body shop, we are now looking forward to deploying Figure 03 for a sequencing use case in logistics.”
Brett Adcock, Founder & CEO of Figure AI, says that the real-world deployment proves humanoids have moved well past lab testing to establish flexible factory workforces. As Figure 03 takes on complex sorting applications in Spartanburg’ s halls, it highlights how physical AI can absorb monotonous, labour-heavy roles while human workers focus on higher-value tasks.
Conversely, sectors like construction often require specialised superstructures that can reach three to five meters and lift massive loads, rather than humanoid designs. Form must follow function.
“ There’ s a time and place for humanoid robots due to their expense,” Pascal says.“ What is very expensive in humanoid robots are the arms, legs and fingers. The more complex you get in terms of dexterity, the more you’ re going to add some costs.”
The path forward: Trust, organisation and scale While headlines often focus on spatial computing and mechanical breakthroughs, the practical reality of physical AI hinges on a very different set of priorities.
124 October 2026