DEDUPEDMeta has built a prototype humanoid robot with Chinese startup Fourier and is working on a second version, The Information reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the initiative. Reuters said it could not immediately verify the report. Meta told The Information that the work is for internal research and experimentation and that it has no plans to sell the units.
The robot is known inside Meta as Max. According to the report as relayed by The Next Web and Investing.com, it weighs about 106 pounds, or 48kg, stands around 1.5 metres tall and was built by the two companies in roughly three months. It runs on Nvidia's Jetson Thor chip, has a screen that mimics facial expressions, built-in speakers and five-fingered hands for picking up small objects.
Meta's robotics team travelled to China for the work. Li-Chen Miller, Meta's vice president of product for robotics, spent almost two months at Fourier's factory in Shanghai, the report said. Meta then showed Max to some staff at an internal robotics summit in late August. Digital Today adds that Max can recognise voices from 5 metres away and read hand gestures from 3 metres away.
Work on Max 2 began in September. It is due to get a new torso, better hands, a projector and extra sensors to help it handle stairs, per The Next Web. Meta sees humanoids as a physical form for Muse, its AI agent, and hopes they can do household tasks. One of the report's sources said Meta has not set a launch date for a humanoid product.
Context matters here. Meta bought Assured Robot Intelligence, a San Diego start-up that makes AI software for robots, in May, and its team joined Meta Superintelligence Labs. Fourier, based in Shanghai, unveiled its GR-3 humanoid in August 2025, which it calls a care-bot. The Next Web notes Nvidia agreed this week to invest $3bn in Meta and expand their work on Muse.
For AI builders, the story points to robots becoming a deployment target for general agents, with Nvidia's Jetson Thor as the on-board compute. Nothing here is a product or an API yet, and the details rest on anonymous sources. Watch for Max 2 details and any Meta robotics software release.
Sources
- The InformationMeta Built Humanoid Prototype With Chinese Startup To Ramp Up Robotics Push
- ReutersMeta builds humanoid robot with Chinese startup Fourier, The Information says
- Investing.comMeta builds humanoid robot with China’s Fourier as home robot push expands: report
- shattered.ioMeta Fourier Humanoid Robot: Built in 3 Months
- Central Oregon DailyMeta builds humanoid robot with Chinese startup Fourier, The Information says
- Informat.roMeta develops Max humanoid robot / The US company is already preparing an improved version
- The Lufkin Daily NewsMeta builds humanoid robot with Chinese startup Fourier, The Information says
- U.S. News MoneyMeta Builds Humanoid Robot With Chinese Startup Fourier, the Information Says
- The News InternationalMeta builds prototype humanoid robot Max with Chinese partner: What to know
- the deep diveMeta Turns To China To Build Humanoid Robots as Trump Restricts Foreign Ones
- TradingViewMeta built humanoid prototype in robotics push: The Information
- InshortsMeta develops humanoid robot: Report Meta's team travelled to China to work on it Inshorts
- The Next WebMeta built a humanoid robot with China's Fourier, The Information reports
- Reuters via Investing.comMeta builds humanoid robot with Chinese startup Fourier, The Information says
- Yahoo FinanceMeta builds humanoid robot with China's Fourier as home robot push expands: report
- Digital TodayMeta develops humanoid robot prototype with Chinese firm Fourier, begins second-generation project
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