Microsoft is making big bets on bringing artificial general intelligence (AGI) to the world of robotics. The tech giant recently announced a collaboration with Sanctuary AI, makers of the humanoid robot Phoenix, hot on the heels of leading a massive $675 million funding round for competitor Figure.
The Sanctuary partnership cuts to the core of Microsoft's
ambitions in this area - developing AGI systems that can learn, reason and
understand like humans. This holy grail of AI is seen as critical for unlocking
truly general-purpose robots that can flexibly tackle a wide range of tasks.
"Creating systems that think and understand like us is
one of the biggest technical challenges and opportunities we'll ever
face," noted Sanctuary co-founder and CEO Geordie Rose. "We're
excited to work with Microsoft on next-gen AI models powering general-purpose
robots."
While AGI breakthroughs remain years away, humanoid robots
require this level of general intelligence to move beyond today's
single-purpose limitations. Their human-like form factor enables a broader
range of motion, but advanced reasoning capabilities are needed to fully
utilize that dexterity.
The Future AGI Models
For Microsoft, the Sanctuary collaboration deepens its AI development efforts while giving it a hardware partner designing robots precisely for future AGI models. Sanctuary's Phoenix has already been tested on over 400 tasks across 15 industries, including an upcoming pilot with automaker Magna.
The company is targeting the long-promised
"general-purpose" vision - robots that can learn and apply knowledge
across vastly different scenarios, just as humans do.
Microsoft is hedging its bets, also backing Figure's
competing general robotics AI work as part of that $675 million mega-round led
by the company in February. It's not alone, as OpenAI - another Microsoft
partner - has invested in both Figure and rival Agility Robotics.
Race for AGI Breakthroughs Intensifies
Microsoft founder Bill Gates underscored his own interest in
humanoid robots enabled by general AI earlier this year. As the race for AGI
breakthroughs intensifies, Microsoft is clearly positioning itself at the
forefront through strategic partnerships spanning both software and hardware.
Cracking the code of general intelligence could spark a
paradigm shift - robots that seamlessly adapt to open-ended tasks and
environments, rife with possibilities. For Microsoft, securing those
computational and physical building blocks now could pay massive dividends if
AGI ambitions are realized.
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