Figure AI, a company that develops humanoid robots, is being sued by a former head of product safety, who says he was wrongfully fired after warning management that the company's robots were "powerful enough to crack a human skull."
Figure AI, a company that develops humanoid robots, is being sued by a former head of product safety, who says he was wrongfully fired after warning management that the company's robots were "powerful enough to crack a human skull."
Roberta Grundel, the chief security engineer at robotics company Figure AI, was fired in September, days after his lawyers said he made “the most direct and well-documented security complaints,” CNBC reported .
The lawsuit says the engineer warned Figure CEO Brett Adcock and chief engineer Kyle Edelberg about the robot's deadly capabilities, and said one of them had "already made a ¼-inch cut in the steel door of the refrigerator during the malfunction."
The court documents also state that Grundel warned company executives not to “water down” the “security roadmap” he was asked to present to two potential investors who ultimately funded the company.
The engineer was concerned that the “product safety plan that informed their decision to invest” was “dramatically changed” the same month Figure closed the investment round, a move that “could be interpreted as fraud.”
According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff's concerns were "viewed as impediments, not obligations," and the company cited a "vague 'change in business direction'" as the reason for his dismissal.
Grundel is seeking economic, compensatory and punitive damages and is requesting a jury trial.
A Figure spokesperson told CNBC that Gruendel "was terminated due to poor performance" and that his "allegations are false, which Figure will fully refute in court."
Grundel's lawyer believes that this case "may be one of the first whistleblower cases related to the safety of humanoid robots," and his client expects that "the trial will reveal the clear danger that this 'rush to market' approach poses to the public."
