Meta Acquires ARI to Accelerate Humanoid AI Development

Meta has acquired Assured Robot Intelligence (ARI), a startup at the frontier of robotic intelligence. The announcement was made on May 1, 2026. ARI co-founders Xiaolong Wang and Lerrel Pinto will join Meta Superintelligence Labs. This acquisition reflects a broader industry sprint where forecasts range from Goldman Sachs 38B projection to Morgan Stanley 5T estimate. Many AI experts believe the path to AGI will require training AI models in the physical world.