Grondal alleges that he revealed to management that some robots possessed enough power to “fracture a human skull,” and pointed to an incident in which a robot caused a dent in a steel refrigerator door due to a technical malfunction.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in California, asserts that Grondal was fired in September “just days after submitting documented safety complaints,” and that the company asked him to “water down” the content of the safety plan before presenting it to investors who later funded the company. Grondal believes that the subsequent cancellation of this plan may amount to “fraudulent conduct.”
This case comes at a time when “Figure AI” has risen to a value of $39 billion after a massive funding round involving prominent investors such as Jeff Bezos, Nvidia, and Microsoft.
Grondal is seeking financial compensation and a jury trial. In response, the company stated in a statement that his dismissal was due to “poor performance” and that his allegations are “untrue and will be refuted.”
It is worth noting that many companies are currently working in a race to develop human-like robots, including Tesla, Boston Dynamics, and China’s Unitree, in a market that “Morgan Stanley” experts expect to exceed $5 trillion by 2050.
