Fortune 500 companies invest in humanoid robots

Accenture is a leading global management consulting and professional services company headquartered in Ireland. Since it was first listed in the Fortune Global 500 in 2016 at 312th place, it has become a regular on the list, and in 2023 it broke its own record at 220th place.

According to Accenture's Technology Vision 2024 report, 95% of executives surveyed agreed that "the humanization of technology will greatly expand industry opportunities." This coincides with the trend of the technology industry in recent years to pursue the humanization of artificial intelligence.

In the beginning of the year, humanoid robots are still hot. Figure raised $672 million and sent the humanoid robot Figure 01 to work in the BMW factory; Agility Robotics has signed a strategic partnership with Amazon and GXO Logistics; NVIDIA released the basic model of the GROOT humanoid robot and officially entered the embodied intelligence market...

Recently, Accenture also announced a strategic investment in the humanoid robot company Sanctuary AI.

Humanoid robots have similar appearance and characteristics to humans, and have multimodal interaction capabilities such as movement and vision. They are not only the best carriers to give full play to the advantages of artificial intelligence, but also take into account the humanized experience, laying the foundation for their application in many fields.

Sanctuary AI was founded in Vancouver, Canada in 2018 by Geordie Rose, Suzanne Gildert, Olivia Norton and Ajay Agrawal. Unlike other companies that focus on bipedal walking, Sanctuary AI focuses on object manipulation.

The company's Phoenix robot is driven by an AI control system called Carbon, which attempts to mimic the subsystems in the human brain to give the robot human-like intelligence. At the same time, Sanctuary AI also strives to make artificial intelligence operations explainable and editable, improving its transparency and controllability.

With excellent hand-eye coordination and advanced AI support, Phoenix robot demonstrates amazing manipulation dexterity and can complete a series of complex tasks such as packaging, sorting, and assembly. Geordie Rose, CEO of Sanctuary AI, believes: "As labor shortages are becoming an issue in many countries and industries, AI-driven humanoid robots are essential to reshaping work and supporting human workers."

Through the collaboration with Accenture, Sanctuary AI is expected to apply its humanoid robot technology to a wider range of fields, providing automation and collaboration solutions for industries such as manufacturing and logistics, and alleviating labor shortages.

In addition, the investment in Sanctuary AI is just the latest move in Accenture's robotics strategy. As early as January 2024, Accenture and Mujin formed a joint venture called Accenture Alpha Automation to introduce robotics technology into the manufacturing and logistics industries.

In addition, Accenture has continued to enhance its robotics integration capabilities through acquisitions and other means. In 2021, it acquired Pollux , an industrial robot and automation supplier, and in 2022, it acquired Eclipse Automation, which provides customized automation and robotics solutions for the manufacturing industry.

It can be seen that Accenture is consciously building a complete ecosystem covering the research and development, integration and application of robotics technology in order to take a leading position in the upcoming robotics revolution.

The rise of humanoid robots has triggered deep thinking about the development direction of the robotics industry. Traditionally, industrial robots are often seen as synonymous with high automation and standardization, focusing on efficiency and precision while ignoring flexibility and humanized experience, but the future development trend may undergo a fundamental change.

In the future, the focus of competition in the robotics industry may no longer be the simple degree of automation, but the comprehensive intelligence level of robots and their ability to collaborate with humans. Whether in manufacturing, service, or home scenarios, robots with high intelligence and humanization will occupy a more advantageous position.