Watch these defunct humanoid robots go full Terminator and dive into molten steel

A viral video from Figure AI's robotics laboratory has shown a fleet of decommissioned F.02 humanoid robots diving into molten steel, inspired by the iconic Terminator 2 scene. The footage is truly remarkable as a robot appears to reflect on its destiny. Figure AI, based in San Jose, California, plans to retire the F.02 generation of its robots, which will be replaced by the newer F.03 models.

To say goodbye to the last F.02 robots, the company enlisted the help of Terminator star Arnold Schwarzenegger, consulted former MythBusters team members, and traveled to a steel plant in Finland equipped with a camera crew.

The robots were trained to leap autonomously into the vat of molten steel, with one even lowered into the forge on a chain, replicating Schwarzenegger's Terminator character's thumbs-up gesture at the end of the movie. At the company's headquarters in San Jose, engineers programmed the robots to perform this daring stunt, even practicing with large airbags.

However, finding a suitable location for the test proved challenging. No American or Mexican metal foundries were willing to let a robot with lithium-ion batteries jump into their expensive equipment. After reaching out to former MythBusters for assistance, Figure AI finally found a willing partner in a foundry in Imatra, Finland.

The melted F.02 robots are not going to waste. The resulting metal has been transformed into limited-edition artifacts, now available for purchase online. Figure AI is transparent about the authenticity of the footage, reassuring viewers that they genuinely trained the robots to leap autonomously, transported them to Finland, and watched them leap into the molten steel. In an era of AI-generated content, the company emphasizes the reality of the event in a statement shared on Twitter.