To Bot, or Not to Bot: A conversation on what ‘Being Humanoid’ will entail

In a recent episode of WTF Online, entrepreneur and investor Nikhil Kamath sat down with Brett Adcock, Founder and CEO of Figure AI, for an in-depth exploration of what many are calling the next great technological revolution: humanoid robotics.

Created to explore the industries and ideas that spark Kamath’s curiosity, this conversation explored how AI and robotics will transform life, work and human purpose.

Key themes included

AI’s Next Frontier — Humanoids

Nikhil invited Brett to unpack the extraordinary engineering that goes into creating autonomous humanoid robots and asks if he could begin by breaking down a robot?

Brett does a deep-dive and describes humanoids as one of the most vertically integrated engineering efforts in modern robotics. He envisioned a near future where billions of humanoid robots coexist alongside people, performing household chores and transforming industries, including logistics, manufacturing, and healthcare. For him, humanoids represented not just a technological frontier, but the next great evolution in human productivity and progress. Together, this deeply integrated hardware: AI system forms a humanoid capable of learning, adapting, and functioning autonomously in human-designed spaces.

Scaling Humanoids: The Energy Dilemma

Nikhil then probed Brett on the core engineering bottlenecks facing humanoid robotics, and whether it was truly possible to reach human-level efficiency. Brett explained that the real challenge was moving from task-specific performance to true general intelligence, building robots that can think, adapt, and operate autonomously in unpredictable environments.

He explained that their biggest challenge lay in developing general-purpose robotics, creating a robot capable of entering an unfamiliar home and performing tasks simply by responding to spoken or voice commands.

Brett also explained that one of the hardest frontiers in robotics was handling deformable objects such as laundry. Additionally, energy efficiency remains another major challenge.

He said: Today we’re far less efficient than a human. Humans are extremely efficient. However, current humanoids can already perform physical work for nearly a full human shift, depending on the task, making them commercially viable with a positive Return on Investment in real-world applications. The path to scaling, he emphasized, lay in balancing intelligence, adaptability and energy efficiency.

The Age of Embodied AI

Nikhil and Brett then discussed how AI would redefine human-machine interaction and why today’s devices, built “pre AI,” are due for reinvention.

Nikhil asks whether the new form factor for AI overall is to communicate with AI? — Because a lot of people have been extrapolating on what could be the next form factor after the cellphone. How does a man communicate with a computer tomorrow?

Brett predicts voice models will be near human level EQ and context within 12 to 18 months, passing Turing tests and powering a new generation of AI-native hardware — intelligent language devices and humanoid robots, connected and adaptive. Additionally, while hardware remained a strong differentiator today, Brett noted that the real long-term moat will be data, context and memory.

Who wins the Robot Race?

The conversation then turned to the global competition in humanoid robotics, when Nikhil asks Brett to assess how Figure AI’s progress compares with the rest of the world, particularly China.

Brett drew a sharp distinction between scale in manufacturing and technological capability.

“There is a ton of manufacturing capacity in China, but the robots they make just don’t work too great, frankly speaking. They’re far from even where we’re at, at Figure. Most Chinese players are making hardware-only bets, often building robots without functional hands or integrated AI. One can buy the robot hardware, but it comes down to how to make it work,” he says.

In contrast, the U.S. advantage more broadly lies in mastering the intelligence layer.

Brett believes that currently, America is winning this game. “To win the race overall, excellence on three fronts is needed: world-class hardware design, cutting-edge AI, and seamless system integration to create robots that can perform meaningful work.”

“What matters is shipping a product at scale that can generate the data to increase intelligence and reduce costs. That’s who wins, in my view. Who’s the first to a million robots in the market? That’s a big marker that will help determine the leader, The future of humanoids won’t be determined by who can build the most robots, but by who can make them think the best, and, for now, that edge firmly belongs to America.

Would You Trust a Robot?

Nikhil then asks Brett Adcock a fundamental question: One of trust. He asks him whether he would trust the robot with his children?

Brett, acknowledging that while Figure’s robots have made great progress, they are a work-in-progress.

He admitted that he currently keeps a close watch on the robot when it operates at home, when children are around.

“I will not let my robot roam free for hours and weeks right now with my kids. True safety means reaching the point where I can leave them with the bot, without worrying about any adverse impact,” he says.

When it comes to fulfilling the need for “companionship”, Brett envisions a future where humanoids do evolve into emotionally intelligent companions, where they will be able to intuit your state of mind and work along with your predicament, to soothe your self.

Startup wisdom: Advice for entrepreneurs

The conversation then concludes with Nikhil asking Brett to imagine a world where humanoids perform most human tasks: at home and at work. He then asks what of the future of socialism, capitalism and human relevance?

Brett, in reply, predicts a transformation as sweeping as the software revolution thus: “Just as software ate the world, AI will eat everything, with humanoids at the centre of this next industrial wave. These synthetic agents will be capable of working affordably, efficiently, and around the clock, making the prices of goods and services collapse to almost zero. This would usher in an era of radical material abundance, where the marginal cost of most goods and services nears zero. Economic metrics themselves may shift, from measuring GDP per capita to GDP per humanoid.”

Brett believes the future will be liberating, but also acknowledged a deeper social reckoning ahead.

“Once synthetic agents do nearly everything humans can, the crisis won’t be economic but existential, redefining how people find meaning, purpose and identity in a post-labour world,” he adds.

Where to bet the next dollar?

On where an investor should put in his money, Brett’s answer is clear: On companies mastering both hardware and AI. For investors, the message is simple: the winning bet is on companies that can make robots think and move seamlessly.

(The full episode is available here: Humanoids Cost as Much as an SUV Now | Nikhil Kamath x Brett Adcock | WTF Online Ep 2)