A company has retired its older robots with fire, and Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared to witness their departure. In the firm’s F.02 Decommission video, the actor guides a machine toward a furnace before revealing himself and declaring: “Hasta la vista, Figure 2.”
The send-off draws directly on the Terminator films, with Schwarzenegger dressed in protective gear and the robot stepping into molten steel. The company’s announcement describes the scene as a real-life Terminator 2 send-off, complete with the familiar face of the franchise’s star.
How the Robots Got Their Retirement
The expansion of the F.03 fleet rendered upkeep of the older machines untenable. The company could not dispose of them outright, because safeguarding proprietary hardware barred such a course. And taking apart each robot would pull engineers away from work on F.04.
The company chose to melt them down instead. Lithium-ion batteries prevented foundries in the US and Mexico from accepting the robots. Eventually, Figure tracked down a willing facility in Imatra, Finland.
At their San Jose campus, engineers prepared the machines by teaching them to land on airbags, drawing on the motions of stunt performers as models for the leaps. The last step called for a 75-ton electric arc furnace.
The figure shows that the machines launched themselves on their own into the liquid steel. Nearly all of the F.02 fleet has vanished, leaving only a small number kept safe at headquarters. What remains of the recovered material is being shaped into special editions.
A Familiar Face in Character
The figure’s appearance in the movie adds a recognizable presence to the destruction of the older machines, according to Figure’s September 30 announcement, Schwarzenegger suggested melting the robots after the company asked the internet how to retire them. The actor’.
The Terminator comparisons are no longer just a matter of audience reaction. This time, the framing of the contrast between Figure and the Terminator franchise is being done deliberately.
What Comes Next for Figure
The illustration previously displayed a Figure 03 engaged in domestic duties, among which were:
- Washing dishes
- Folding clothes
Its predecessor’s final assignment was considerably hotter.
The company’s announcement also points to other unusual chapters in robotics demonstrations. One involved a T800 robot kicking its own company’s CEO. Another involved a humanoid being cut open to prove it wasn’t a person in disguise.
The figure has brought in the original Terminator to handle retirement, and just last month, influencer Frankie LaPenna fought a six-foot-tall robot in the “first Human vs Terminator robot fight,” with the real-life T800 leaving some marks on him.
A Company Built Around Terminator
Figure’s name and products echoes The Terminator. A company named after a franchise about machines rising up against humanity has now retired its own machines by melting them, with the franchise”s star turns up in the film, which carries an odd twist.
That send-off carries weight because of the link between the two. Figure is not merely a robotics company; its very identity leans on a franchise about machines destroying humans.
What We Make of It
The stunt works because it is executed with theatricality. Schwarzenegger’s presence, the molten steel, the autonomous jump: all of it plays on the franchise’s history.
The joke is grim. A firm whose goods take their names from a tale of engines laid low by men has now itself put an end to its own engines by melting them down. That irony will not escape anyone familiar with the story.
The firm has a clear grasp of the power of spectacle. By staging a stunt, it shows off its skills while simultaneously engaging with the cultural associations tied to its own name.
No longer is the comparison to the Terminator franchise a mere joke among viewers. The figure has brought the original Terminator into its own story for handling retirement.
It is fully ironic that a company built around a franchise where machines destroy humans has now melted its own machines into retirement, with the franchise’s star showing up in the film to mark the occasion.
Source material: “Arnold Schwarzenegger terminates real AI robots Judgment Day style using molten steel,” Dexerto.
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