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Robotics

Apple loses robotics lead to Meta

PLUS: Patients control AI and robotics with thought

Jennifer Mossalgue

September 4, 2025

Good morning, robotics enthusiasts. Apple’s AI brainpower is bleeding out: robotics chief Jian Zhang is off to Meta, while three top Foundation Models researchers have departed for OpenAI and Anthropic.

With such talent jumping ship, can the tech giant still compete in the intelligent hardware arena?

In today’s robotics rundown:

Apple’s robotics head defects to Meta
Tesla’s Optimus-heavy Master Plan 4.0
China’s Unitree tees up its IPO
Runway expands beyond video AI to robotics
Quick hits on other robotics news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

APPLE/META

🤖 Apple’s robotics head defects to Meta

Image source: Ideogram/The Rundown

The Rundown: Apple’s AI talent drain shows no signs of slowing, with Bloomberg reporting that Jian Zhang, the company’s lead researcher for robotics, has left to join Meta’s Robotics Studio.

The details:

Zhang’s exit delivers a significant setback to Apple’s AI-driven hardware goals, considering his pivotal role in developing next-gen robotic tech.
Bloomberg reports that three additional researchers from Apple’s Foundation Models AI team have also left for OpenAI and Anthropic.
Since January, at least a dozen AI specialists have quit Apple to join Meta, OpenAI, and Anthropic.
For Apple, eager to expand its AI ambitions beyond Siri, the departures reveal a more fundamental structural challenge.

Why it matters: This talent exodus from Apple’s AI teams could hamper the company’s long-term ability to innovate in AI and robotics. As rivals aggressively expand their AI labs and lure away Apple’s best minds, the tech giant may be forced to partner with external companies and rethink its approach if it hopes to stay competitive.

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TESLA

☄️ Tesla’s Optimus-heavy Master Plan 4.0

Image source: Tesla

The Rundown: Tesla just announced its Master Plan 4.0, which puts AI, robotics, and the Optimus humanoid front and center, but critics slam it as a foggy mix of buzzwords and big promises with few concrete details.

The details:

Tesla’s new strategy shifts its focus to AI and robotics, with Elon Musk predicting 80% of the company’s value coming from Optimus.
This is a departure from Tesla’s historic emphasis on electric vehicles, with plans to deeply integrate AI into physical services and manufacturing.
Tesla’s original Master Plan from 2006 mapped out a strategy to launch a high-performance electric sports car (the Roadster), then produce mass-market EVs.
Critics have called the new plan “AI slop” and “buzzword salad,” questioning whether Tesla’s vision is grounded in practical roadmaps.

Why it matters: Tesla’s Master Plan 4.0 marks a break from its core identity as an EV and energy company, into a claim that Optimus will be central to Tesla’s growth toward “sustainable abundance.” But even Tesla enthusiasts are questioning the lack of concrete execution details backing up the aspirational tone.

UNITREE

🦄 China’s Unitree tees up its IPO

Image source: Unitree

The Rundown: Unitree Robotics, one of China’s rising robotics players, said on X that it plans to file IPO documents between October and December 2025, marking the next big step in its listing journey.

The details:

Investors include China Mobile, Alibaba, Tencent, Ant Group, and Meituan, pushing valuations past 10B yuan ($1.4B).
In 2024, Unitree grabbed nearly 70% of the global quadruped robot market, shipping over 23K units annually.
The Hangzhou-based company moved from a limited company to a joint-stock firm this year and has been in an official guidance phase since July.
Unitree aims to be the first A-share listed company focused on humanoids, as it is distancing itself from military use controversies.

Why it matters: Unitree’s lineup — dominated by robot dogs and humanoids, which drive nearly all its sales — has already secured mass-market dominance and the biggest share of the global quadruped market. Now, as it moves toward its IPO, the company is aiming to shed its military-drill image to double down on civilian innovation.

RUNWAY

🎥 Runway expands beyond video AI to robotics

Image source: Runway

The Rundown: Runway, the New York-based AI company best known for pushing the boundaries of video and image generation, is now setting its sights on an entirely new frontier: robotics.

The details:

Runway’s co-founder and CTO, Anastasis Germanidis, told TechCrunch that the company is fielding interest from robotics and self-driving car companies.
It launched its latest model, Gen-4 for cinematic video generation, in March, and followed it up with Aleph, designed for advanced video editing.
Runway has spent seven years refining its world models, with robotics firms now seeking the same hyperrealistic simulations to train and test their systems.
The company has already secured more than $500M in funding from major backers, including Nvidia and Google, reaching a valuation of around $3B.

Why it matters: Runway says simulations can’t replace real-world training, but its tech — like Nvidia’s Cosmos and Google’s Genie 3 — can offer a lot of value in terms of time-saving and scale. For now, it is planning on fine-tuning its existing model for self-driving cars and robotics, and is actively investing in a dedicated robotics team.

QUICK HITS

📰 Everything else in robotics today

Figure released a new video of its F.02 humanoid autonomously loading a dishwasher using its in-house Helix VLA model.

UC Berkeley researchers created a system dubbed HITTER that allows humanoids to play ping pong autonomously to near perfection.

UBTECH Robotics secured a $1B credit line from Infini Capital to launch a joint venture for building a “superfactory,” R&D center, and Middle East headquarters.

China's humanoid sales in 2025 will exceed 10K units, a year-over-year increase of 125%, according to new market data.

Greece hosted a four-day International Humanoid Olympiad this week, with Chinese companies reportedly more willing to showcase progress (and failures) than U.S. firms.

Oceaneering’s Brazil team clinched a $180M Petrobras contract for four years of next-gen subsea robotics work, powering key offshore projects starting late 2025.

UK and Brazil researchers developed a tentacle-like robot that they say makes offshore subsea inspections safer, more precise, and far less reliant on human divers.

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