Meta reportedly acquired Assured Robot Intelligence as it steps up efforts in humanoid robots and physical AI. The startup’s team is expected to join Meta’s AI and robotics divisions, reports Bloomberg. The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed. The Mark Zuckerberg-led company sees this acquisition as a strategic step toward building systems that operate at the forefront of robotic intelligence.
Notably, Assured Robot Intelligence (ARI) is known for developing AI systems that help robots understand human behaviour and adapt in real-world settings. Instead of depending on rigid pre-programmed instructions, ARI’s approach focuses on learning-based control systems, where robots improve through interaction with their environment. This includes technologies related to motion planning, real-time decision-making, and whole-body coordination, which are key components needed for humanoid robots that must operate in spaces designed for humans.
As part of the acquisition, the Assured Robot Intelligence (ARI) team will be integrated into Meta’s internal AI ecosystem, joining Meta Superintelligence Labs, its advanced research division, and working closely with Meta Robotics Studio, which was established in 2025 to build foundational technologies for humanoid systems.
Importantly, ARI co-founders Lerrel Pinto and Xiaolong Wang are also joining Meta and will be directly involved in these teams, contributing their expertise in robotics and machine learning. Wang, who previously worked as a researcher at NVIDIA, and Pinto, who earlier founded Fauna Robotics before it was acquired by Amazon in 2025, are expected to help advance Meta’s work on frontier robot control models, including self-learning systems and full-body humanoid control architectures.
Meta’s acquisition strategy over the past few years has increasingly focused on AI infrastructure, including large-scale foundation models and specialized AI research teams. The addition of ARI strengthens this direction by adding robotics-specific intelligence capabilities, particularly in adaptive control systems and human-aware machine behaviour. This is significant because one of the major technical challenges in humanoid robotics is not hardware design alone, but the development of software systems that can handle uncertainty, sensory noise, and continuous learning in real time.
The timing of the acquisition is also notable as competition in the humanoid robotics space intensifies. Companies like Tesla, NVIDIA, and several emerging robotics startups are racing to develop machines capable of performing general-purpose physical tasks. The whole scenario becomes even more significant as estimates suggest that the humanoid robotics market could surge from around $2-3 billion in the mid-2020s to about $250 billion by 2035.
The Tech Portal is published by Blue Box Media Private Limited. Our investors have no influence over our reporting. Read our full Ownership and Funding Disclosure →
Ashutosh is a Senior Writer at The Tech Portal, largely reporting on new tech, and intersection of technology and business. Ashutosh’s career spans across nearly a decade of technology writing across multiple platforms and languages.
