Nscale and Figure Announce Major Compute Deal and Equity Partnership

How the Deal Supports Figure’s Robotics Ambitions

Nscale has agreed to supply Figure with at least $3.5 billion worth of computing power over the coming years, while simultaneously acquiring a minority stake in the robotics company. The deal, announced by both firms’ chief executives, underscores a deepening strategic alliance between the AI infrastructure provider and the humanoid robot developer. The agreement was revealed during a joint appearance where Josh Payne of Nscale and Brett Adcock of Figure stood beside a Figure 03 robot painted in Nscale branding.

The computing arrangement will see Nscale deliver specialized AI training and inference resources to support Figure’s development of advanced humanoid robots. This includes access to high-performance GPU clusters essential for simulating robot behavior, refining neural networks, and processing real-world sensor data. In return, Nscale gains an equity position in Figure, aligning its financial interests with the startup’s long-term success in embodied AI. The partnership reflects a growing trend where infrastructure providers seek closer ties with AI application builders to secure demand and influence technological direction.

What Does Nscale Gain Beyond Financial Returns?

Figure plans to use the computing power to accelerate training of its AI models, particularly those governing movement, dexterity, and environmental interaction. The company aims to deploy its Figure 02 and upcoming Figure 03 robots in logistics and manufacturing settings, where real-time decision-making is critical. Brett Adcock noted that scalable compute is a bottleneck in robotics development, and this agreement removes a major constraint. Josh Payne emphasized that Nscale’s infrastructure is optimized for AI workloads requiring low latency and high throughput, making it well-suited for robotics applications.

Beyond the revenue stream and equity upside, Nscale benefits from close collaboration with a leading edge AI robotics firm. This provides valuable feedback on hardware performance under real-world AI workloads, informing future infrastructure design. The partnership also enhances Nscale’s reputation as a go-to provider for compute-intensive AI ventures, potentially attracting similar deals in autonomous systems and generative AI. Industry analysts note that such vertical integrations help cloud-like providers differentiate in a competitive market by offering more than raw computing power.

What specific type of computing resources will Nscale provide to Figure? Nscale will supply access to its AI-optimized GPU clusters, designed for training large models and running inference tasks critical to robotics perception and control systems.

Frequently Asked Questions

How large is the stake Nscale is acquiring in Figure? The exact size of the equity stake has not been disclosed, but it is described as a minority position obtained alongside the $3.5 billion compute agreement.

Is this deal exclusive between Nscale and Figure? While the agreement involves significant commitments from both sides, neither company has stated that the arrangement prevents them from working with other partners in AI infrastructure or robotics development.