Figure Gives Retired F.02 Humanoid Robot a Furnace Farewell Featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger

On October 1, Figure, a U.S.-based AI robotics startup, released a video showing a "furnace farewell ceremony" for its retired F.02 humanoid robot. As the F.03 fleet grows, Figure decided that maintaining the aging F.02 was no longer worthwhile, and that dismantling it manually would be time-consuming and potentially delay development of future models. Instead, the company chose an unusual send-off.

According to Figure, the idea of having the robot jump into the furnace itself came from actor Arnold Schwarzenegger. After Figure asked the public for farewell suggestions, Schwarzenegger's proposal was adopted. He later appeared at the ceremony in full protective gear, leading an F.02 toward the furnace in a homage to "Terminator 2". At the end of the video, he removes his mask and says, "Figure 2 is retired."

Finding a suitable furnace proved challenging. Many companies in the U.S. and Mexico declined Figure's request because they could not confirm the safety of the robot's lithium batteries. Eventually, Figure found a facility in Imatra, Finland that met the requirements.

Rather than simply dropping F.02 into the furnace, Figure also trained a dedicated AI model to enable the robot to jump in as spectacularly as possible.