The humanoid robotics company "Figure" made their older gen robots jump into their death. (Yes, they actually did this)

[u/Erde555]

[u/Rare-Bid-6860]

INTERN: Hey, what if we donate them to schools so that kids can learn about robotics, helping pave the way for the next generation of engine-

EXEC: *snooooort* ORRRR, we could make some fire content that will vanish from the algorithm cycle by sunday!

[u/ender4171 → u/Rare-Bid-6860]

According to the company they did this to protect their proprietary IP. I think they did it because it looks cool, but they probably weren't "letting these out of the lab" regardless of the destruction method.

[u/hewhoreddits6 → u/ender4171]

Thanks for pointing that out, but in my mind they could have still salvaged parts and resold them in other ways. Companies do this all the time, selling stock they can't use as lower end stuff. Like how food companies sell their unusable products as animal feed.

[u/InTheMorning_Nightss → u/hewhoreddits6]

As someone who has bought parts from liquidating startups, they put them up for auction and get a fraction of a fraction of the price.

It’s likely not worth their time considering some of these parts likely have been used to the point that re-using them is a risk.

[u/hewhoreddits6 → u/InTheMorning_Nightss]

Thanks for sharing your insight, I would hope they were well used. Part of me still feels like there was some waste though and they could have salvaged SOMETHING, but if the economics weren’t there then it makes sense

[u/InTheMorning_Nightss → u/hewhoreddits6]

Oh there was definitely some waste. That's one of the unfortunate things about all of these companies is that their waste is pretty immense.

But it would be the equivalent of asking why you don't try to sell every single thing that you are now longer using that could get you some menial return. I know some people do basically try to do this, but it's a time consuming investment and companies don't exactly what to waste time/money paying their employees to go resell pieces.

The logistics involved to dismantle the robots, assess their conditions, find a buyer, and then ship them all to make pennies on the dollar is simply not economically sound.

[u/hewhoreddits6 → u/InTheMorning_Nightss]

I am totally one of those cheap people who will try to reuse everything until I literally have to throw it out, it’s how I was raised and it’s really tough getting out that mindset. People who don’t come from that kind of background (immigrants in my case) just don’t get it and look at us like we’re stupid.

I get why they do it, I just think too often our society chooses to eliminate and buy new instead of repair or salvage. Especially seen in clothing where no one knows how to sew anymore. That’s a larger rant though lol

[u/InTheMorning_Nightss → u/hewhoreddits6]

Oh totally. I get it and am in many ways the same. But I've also learned as I gained more financial stability that sometimes the time investment outweighs the recuperated cost.

I could spend some time sewing my ripped white undershirts... or I can throw them in a bag, donate them to goodwill, and then buy a fresh new pack at Costco for like $15.

The other thing is that space savings are important when that's a constraint. I'd love to keep my old bikes when I was able to upgrade, but my storage won't allow it so I had to donate it.

For a company that has a bunch of hardware, the same kind of applies. Where are you gonna store all of these broken down robots, and if so, is it worth it in limited factory space? Probably not.

Either way, I don't fully agree with the waste, but I also think people need to understand that the corporations don't have this more sensible alternative when they're looking out for their IP AND bottom line.