Humanoid cleaning robot named one of the year's best inventions; watch the video

Time magazine has included a humanoid cleaning robot in its ranking of the best inventions of 2025. The so-called "Figure 03", announced last Thursday (9), is just over 1.70 m tall, weighs 61 kg and can organize objects and put dishes and clothes in washing machines.

The invention has not yet been officially released to the public. Dozens of companies around the world are competing to be the first to create a humanoid robot viable for mass production for domestic or commercial purposes.

The North American Figure AI faces strong competition from Optimus , a brand that belongs to Elon Musk 's Tesla , and also from the Chinese Unitree, among others.

The 360-person startup announced in September that it had secured $1 billion in investment at a $39 billion valuation, and that it counts Nvidia , Amazon , OpenAI , Microsoft and Salesforce among its investors .

Figure 03 is the most updated version of a generation of Figure AI robots that uses Helix artificial intelligence , the basis for the machine's functions.

The model promises to have tactile sensors that offer softer, more adaptable fingertips, which can detect forces as small as three grams of pressure — sensitivity enough to feel the weight of a paper clip resting on your finger, according to a press release from the company.

Each hand has a camera embedded in the palm, so the system also has short-range visual feedback during actions.

Time magazine, however, pointed out some problems with the tool. During some tests, while the robot was folding clothes, the fabric would often catch on the edges of the basket where they were stored, and the machine would freeze, immobile, unsure of what to do. An engineer would have to return the item to the crumpled pile for the process to start over.

In another test, this time with Figure 02, which was carrying clothes to a washer-dryer, the robot dropped one of the items on the floor and failed to pick it up for two consecutive attempts, before a successful third.

Although a simple task for humans, folding clothes is considered a major achievement for the current robotics industry. This is because wrinkled fabric can take many forms, and it's difficult to code a machine to understand the different correct ways. Figure 03 still has some difficulty folding t-shirts, according to Time.

Brett Adcock, CEO of Figure AI, believes every home will have a humanoid robot within the next ten years, and the world's largest company will be a manufacturer of these tools, according to statements to Time. He also says, however, that Figure 03 isn't yet ready for domestic use.

The robot learns by watching footage of the tasks it will perform, such as interacting with kitchen environments, folding clothes, and carrying objects. According to Adcock, its towel-folding skills came from just 80 hours of footage.

The ability to learn new tasks with small amounts of data is part of the company's promise to offer lower manufacturing costs for Helix artificial intelligence . The Figure 03's moving joint components are 90% cheaper than those of its predecessor.