When Figure AI needed to retire its fleet of Figure 02 humanoid robots, the company didn't just strip them for parts. Instead, it trained them to jump — voluntarily, autonomously — into a vat of molten steel. And Arnold Schwarzenegger was there to watch.
The Internet's Bizarre Retirement Suggestion
It started with a simple question posted on X by Figure AI CEO Brett Adcock: what should the company do with its aging humanoid robots? The internet, predictably, delivered its most dramatic answer. Schwarzenegger — whose most iconic film character famously met his end in a steel furnace — replied with four words: "You should melt them."
Instead of ignoring the joke, Figure AI took it seriously. The company reached out to Schwarzenegger, who agreed to take part in the decommissioning event. The plan was set in motion.
Training Robots to Jump Into Fire
The challenge wasn't just logistical — it was engineering. The Figure 02 robots contained custom actuators, proprietary hardware, and lithium-ion batteries, which made finding a foundry willing to accept them difficult. Foundries in the United States and Mexico both declined. Even the MythBusters team was consulted at one point.
Eventually, Figure AI found a willing partner in Imatra, Finland — a site operating a 75-ton electric arc furnace. But first, the robots had to learn to jump.
At Figure's San Jose campus, the company set up large airbags and trained the humanoids to leap from the second floor of one of its buildings. Using stunt performers as physical references, Figure developed a new AI model trained entirely in simulation. The simulation allowed the robots to learn the precise timing and physics needed to arc into a steel furnace they'd never actually seen — in a facility on a different continent.
Six Melts, 24 Hours, One Legendary Entrance
The team had exactly 24 hours and six melts to complete the decommissioning. Each melt of the electric arc furnace could destroy a small number of robots at once. The robots, running their newly trained AI, autonomously walked to the edge of the furnace and jumped in — no remote control, no human pushing.
The entire stunt was filmed, with footage showing the robots' final steps before disappearing into brilliant white-hot steel. Figure has stressed that the footage is entirely real — no CGI, no AI generation. These robots actually learned to jump into molten metal and then did exactly that.
Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared in the footage himself, adding a full-circle moment to a story that began with his fictional Terminator character being melted in the 1991 film.
What's Next for Figure
The decommissioning of the Figure 02 fleet marks the end of an era for the company's early humanoid platform. The Figure 02 was involved in several landmark achievements: the first BMW deployment, development of the Helix robotics system, household chore demonstrations, and logistics operations.
But Figure isn't slowing down. Its Figure 03 generation is already being deployed at BMW facilities and in Helix logistics work. The company's engineers simply couldn't afford to spend months manually disassembling each Figure 02 unit — hence the dramatic, internet-approved retirement method.
As for the steel from the melts? Figure says it's being returned to the United States and will be used to produce a limited series of commemorative artifacts. The next time you see a piece of Figure AI history, it might be sitting on someone's desk — literally forged in fire.