Figure shows off real autonomy: CEO denies the robot was teleoperated

Figure ran a mass livestream in which its humanoid robot sorted packages in real time. The video drew millions of views on YouTube and X, but it also met a wave of skepticism: critics suggested an operator with a remote control was working behind the scenes.

Millions watched the livestream at once

The event was huge for the AI community. In the video, the Figure humanoid performed a simple but impressive task: it picks packages up from a table, analyzes their dimensions, sorts them into categories and places them in different containers. All of this happened in real time. Millions of people watched simultaneously on YouTube and X. For Figure, which is fighting for recognition in the industry, it was a big win — direct proof that its robot can handle complex logistics.

Why the skepticism arose

Almost immediately, a heated debate broke out on social media, Reddit and technical forums. Skeptics argued that the video could be a deepfake, or that the humanoid was being controlled by an operator over the internet — so-called teleoperation. The question was a fair one: the industry is full of cases where startups and large companies pass off remotely controlled robots as autonomous. Tesla, Boston Dynamics and other companies have been caught more than once using hidden remote control.

"We showed our robot's real capabilities, no teleoperation, no fraud," says

Figure CEO Brett Adcock.

How the CEO answered the criticism

In an interview with Bloomberg Tech, Brett Adcock gave a clear answer to the accusations. His main arguments:

• Full autonomy — the robot uses real-time vision and advanced AI to decide how to move objects
• A live broadcast without suspicious delay — the livestream had no noticeable lag that would point to remote control
• An architecture based on GPT and computer vision — the robot sees the objects on the table, understands their shape and size, then makes the decision on its own
• Honesty as a strategy — hiding the truth would be a disaster for Figure's reputation

Adcock stressed one key point: to earn trust, a technology has to be shown as it really is. Spoiler: if teleoperation had been involved, millions of viewers would have noticed — engineers in the chat would quickly have spotted latency artifacts.

What this means for the market

Figure is trying to turn around the narrative in the humanoid robot industry. After the high-profile failures and inflated promises of other companies, any demonstration of real, honest autonomy is a big plus for trust. If Figure has truly solved the teleoperation problem and shown a working AI robot, this could be a turning point for the entire market. Investors and partners would finally be able to tell real progress from marketing.