Meta is deepening its involvement in the robot intelligence competition.
The social networking giant has acquired Assured Robot Intelligence (ARI), the company’s co-founder Xiaolong Wang said in an X-Post on Friday. ARI is a small start-up company based in San Diego with approximately 20 employees.
Meta and AIX Ventures, the first institutional investor to commit when ARI was founded last May, confirmed the news to Business Insider. Bloomberg first reported the acquisition.
“We have acquired Assured Robot Intelligence, a company at the forefront of robotic intelligence designed to help robots understand, predict and adapt to human behavior in complex and dynamic environments,” a Meta spokesperson said.
ARI develops AI models that power humanoid robots.
Nick Clance, a partner at AIX Ventures, told Business Insider that the startup focuses on high-precision dexterity and manipulation in robotics. Dexterity and maneuverability cover the robot’s ability to physically interact with real-world objects. Both elements are important to making robots useful, whether in an industrial setting or at home.
Clans said the startup is led by two “world-class roboticists.”
Co-founders Wang and Leler Pinto both have academic backgrounds. Mr. Wang is a researcher at Nvidia. Member of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California, San Diego. Mr. Pinto is also CEO of ARI, co-founder of Fauna Robotics, and a professor of computer science at New York University.
ARI isn’t the only startup focused on robotic intelligence.
Startups like Physical Intelligence, Generalist AI, and Genesis AI are focusing on the robot’s intelligence layer, or brain, rather than the hardware. The company’s AI systems are designed to allow robots of various shapes, including humanoids, to operate in a variety of environments.
Meta’s acquisition of ARI is another sign of the company’s commitment to robotics. Meta created a robot group within its Reality Labs division in 2025, according to a memo obtained by Business Insider.
Since then, the company has leveraged new leadership and expanded its Meta Superintelligence Lab (MSL) hardware team. MSL is a separate division from Reality Labs. The two are increasingly intertwined through AI hardware and robotics.
AIX Ventures and Meta declined to comment on the size of the deal.