Oh, the robotics industry loves its good, healthy debates. And certainly, one of the hottest going on lately has to do with humanoid robots. Sure, it's been a big topic for decades, but the recent proliferation of startups like 1X and Figure — as well as projects from more established companies like Tesla — have put humanoids back in the spotlight.

Proponents of the form factor argue that we built our world to fit ourselves, so it stands to reason that we should build robots like ourselves to fit into it as well. In terms of reach, walk up stairs, and dexterity, there are several advantages afforded by our design.

Of course, any person telling you that the human body is the epitome of organic machinery is either misinformed or lying to you. I have spent the last year dealing with degenerative disc disease, a perfect testament to our imperfect design.

The form factor also runs against decades of conventional wisdom that has championed single-purpose robots-that is, machines built to do one thing extremely well a whole lot of times. And then there's the whole "general purpose" part, which tends to get tossed around with little thought to its underlying complexity.

Humanoid robots can, however, now claim a big tech name among their ranks. In a week of much conversation about robotics, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates published his list of "cutting-edge robotics startups and labs that I'm excited about." In it, he names three companies focused on developing humanoids: the most prominent, Agility's Digit, which looks the least like a human; soccer-playing ARTEMIS's UCLA sponsoring Robotics and Mechanisms Lab; and Apptronik, maker of Apollo.

Here's what Gates has to say about Apptronik,

What's more useful: multiple robots that can each do one task over and over, or one robot that can do multiple tasks and learn to do even more? To Apptronik, an Austin-based start-up that spun out of the human-centered robotics lab at the University of Texas, the answer is obvious. So they're building "general-purpose" humanoid bi-pedal robots like Apollo, which can be programmed to do all sorts of things-from carrying boxes in a factory to helping out with household chores.
Writing on Agility, he points out "if we want robots to operate in our environments as seamlessly as possible, perhaps those robots should be modeled after people". Digit is currently ahead of the pack when it comes to real-world deployments, including a recent pilot at Amazon warehouses that helped set the stage for Figure's recent BMW deal.

Other companies that are mentioned in the article include robotic perception firm Field AI and Tevel, which develops apple-picking drones.
This kind of endorsement might not be enough to lift off things in the direction of humanoids, and Gates is very much not a roboticist. Still, it's instructive to see how form factor continues to gain increasing mainstream legitimacy by the day.