Key Takeaways
1. Robert Gruendel, former product safety chief at Figure AI, claims wrongful termination after raising safety concerns about the company’s robots.
2. Gruendel alleges that his safety warnings were dismissed by leadership, and he was let go shortly after filing formal complaints.
3. He accuses Figure AI of fraudulent misrepresentation concerning a safety roadmap for investors, which was altered after funding was secured.
4. Figure AI is valued at $39 billion, with major investors including Jeff Bezos, Nvidia, and Microsoft, while Gruendel seeks damages and a jury trial.
5. The lawsuit occurs as Figure AI plans to deploy 200,000 robots by 2029, aiming for over $9 billion in revenue amid a rapidly growing robotics market.
Figure AI, a robotics company that has backing from Nvidia, is facing a lawsuit from its former product safety chief, Robert Gruendel. Gruendel is claiming wrongful termination after he voiced concerns regarding the safety of the company’s robots, stating these machines are powerful enough to break human skulls.
Safety Warnings Ignored
Gruendel is said to have alerted CEO Brett Adcock and Chief Engineer Kyle Edelberg about the deadly nature of the robots, mentioning an incident where a robot made a ¼-inch cut in a steel refrigerator door. His worries were reportedly brushed off as mere “obstacles” rather than legitimate safety concerns. He was let go in September, just days after he filed formal safety complaints. His legal representatives refer to him as a whistleblower.
Allegations of Fraud
Gruendel asserts that he was requested to create a safety roadmap for potential investors, but he claims that this safety plan was “gutted” during the same month that funding was secured. He suggests this could be seen as fraudulent misrepresentation. Recently, the company has been valued at $39 billion, which is an astonishing 15-fold increase from early 2024. Significant investors in Figure AI include Jeff Bezos, Nvidia, and Microsoft.
Gruendel is pursuing economic, compensatory, and punitive damages and is asking for a jury trial. A spokesperson for Figure AI, however, claims that Gruendel was terminated due to “poor performance” and asserts that the company will “thoroughly discredit” the allegations in a court of law. The attorney indicated that this case might be one of the first whistleblower cases concerning the safety of humanoid robots.
Ambitious Future Plans
This lawsuit emerges as the company aims to deploy 200,000 robots by 2029, with expectations to generate over $9 billion in revenue. Morgan Stanley forecasts significant market growth extending into the 2030s, with the market potentially hitting $5 trillion by 2050.
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