Meta has quietly built a humanoid robot designed to help around the house, according to a report from The Information, and it is already working on a second version. The company hasn’t confirmed any of it, but the details paint a picture of a robotics effort that is moving faster than its public profile suggests.
The prototype, internally codenamed Max, was reportedly put together in around three months with Fourier, a Chinese robotics company. It stands roughly 1.5 metres tall and weighs about 48 kg, with a screen for a face that displays expressions, a built-in speaker and hands built to grip small objects. Under the hood, it reportedly runs on Nvidia’s Jetson Thor chips, the platform Nvidia has been pitching specifically as the brain for humanoid robots.
Max 2 reportedly entered development in September. The follow-up is said to rework the torso and hands, and adds a projector along with extra sensors meant to help it navigate stairs. That last detail is telling. Stairs remain one of the most basic obstacles separating lab demos from robots that can function in an ordinary multi-storey home.
There is no launch date, no price and no indication Meta even intends to sell Max to consumers. A three-month build with an outside partner looks more like a research platform than a product nearing shelves, and readers should treat it that way.
Still, it fits a clear pattern. Bloomberg reported last year that Meta had formed a team dedicated to robot hardware with household chores as the long-term target, and the company has since acquired a startup developing AI for robots. For Meta, robotics offers something its AI division badly needs: a physical product where its models can prove useful beyond chatbots and ad targeting. That matters at a moment when leaked recordings reportedly captured Mark Zuckerberg conceding that the company’s AI progress has been slower than expected, even as he pushed for more spending.
Meta is entering a crowded field. Tesla is producing several hundred Optimus units a week while still wrestling with hand dexterity and assembly, Nvidia is building out tools for physical AI, and Chinese carmakers are pivoting toward humanoids as vehicle sales soften. Everyone agrees the home robot is the prize. Nobody has yet shown one that can reliably fold laundry, clear a table and climb the stairs afterwards, and until someone does, Max is a statement of intent rather than a glimpse of your living room.
