BMW Spartanburg and Figure 02

The completed industrial humanoid pilot. The rare deployment where the full documented arc, from announcement through retirement, is publicly available. From January 2024 partnership announcement through November 2025 official retirement, the BMW Spartanburg deployment of two Figure 02 humanoid robots produced one of the cleanest published case studies in commercial humanoid evaluation that exists today.

The short version

The BMW Spartanburg / Figure 02 deployment is the canonical "completed humanoid industrial pilot" story. The pilot delivered eleven months of live assembly-line operation under defined performance criteria, produced a complete operational dataset, and ended on Figure's announcement that Figure 02 retirement was beginning in favor of Figure 03. As of May 2026, no Figure robots are currently at the BMW Spartanburg facility, and BMW has not announced a timetable for return; BMW continues to work with Figure on data capture and training capabilities for Figure 02 robots.

The operation

Two Figure 02 humanoid robots, manufactured by California-based Figure AI, deployed on the body-shop assembly line at BMW Group Plant Spartanburg in South Carolina. Their primary task was a classic pick-and-place workflow: lifting sheet-metal parts from racks or bins and placing them on welding fixtures with a 5-millimeter placement tolerance. Once placed, a traditional six-axis industrial welding robot performed the welding and fed parts into the main production line.

The deployment ran ten-hour shifts, Monday through Friday. Operating-data totals across the eleven-month pilot:

Approximately 1,250 hours total runtime. More than 30,000 BMW X3 vehicles supported through component-loading contribution. More than 90,000 sheet-metal parts loaded. Approximately 200 miles walked inside the facility. Approximately 1.2 million steps taken. Cycle time of 84 seconds per pick-and-place operation (including approximately 37 seconds for the load itself). Placement accuracy above 99 percent.

The robots ran on Figure 02 hardware (Figure AI's second-generation humanoid platform) with the company's autonomy stack. The deployment was structured as a technical evaluation pilot rather than an open-ended commercial operation; the evaluation criteria were defined in advance and the operation concluded on schedule.

The timeline

January 2024: BMW and Figure AI announce partnership for humanoid robots at BMW Spartanburg.

August 2024: First trial run at the plant. Figure 02 operates on sheet-metal-loading task over several weeks. BMW publicly discusses lessons learned about integrating multi-purpose robots into existing production systems.

Within 6 months of Figure 02 platform readiness: robots delivered to BMW Spartanburg and on-site testing begins.

Within 10 months of Figure 02 platform readiness: full deployment on active assembly line, running every working day. The transition from testing to full deployment marked the operational core of the pilot.

November 19-25, 2025: Figure AI announces conclusion of the eleven-month deployment, publishes operating data, and announces Figure 02 retirement in favor of Figure 03. Figure CEO Brett Adcock publicly shares photos of the retired robots showing scratches, scuffs, and wear from industrial operation, framing the visuals as "real-world deployment" evidence.

May 13, 2026: BMW press communications confirm no Figure AI robots are currently at BMW Spartanburg and no timetable has been established for bringing Figure robots back. BMW continues working with Figure on data capture and training capabilities.

What gets verified

The deployment is unusually well-documented because both BMW (as a publicly listed manufacturer) and Figure AI (in its press cycle around the retirement announcement) published detailed operational data with consistent numbers. Key verified data points:

Operator: BMW Group Plant Spartanburg (South Carolina, USA). The site produces BMW X3, X4, X5, X6, and X7 vehicles.
Manufacturer: Figure AI (Sunnyvale, California).
Robot: Figure 02, bipedal humanoid, second-generation Figure platform.
Number of robots deployed: 2.
Task: Sheet-metal parts loading into welding fixtures.
Cycle time: 84 seconds (37 seconds load + remainder transit/placement).
Placement accuracy: above 99 percent.
Operating hours: ~1,250 total over eleven months.
Vehicles supported: 30,000+ BMW X3.
Parts handled: 90,000+ sheet-metal.
Walking distance: ~200 miles inside facility.
Steps: ~1.2 million.
Deployment start: technical evaluation through 2024-2025; full assembly-line operation through 2025.
Deployment end: November 2025, on Figure 02 retirement.

What this deployment proves

Three things, each of which were live questions when the BMW Spartanburg pilot began.

That humanoid robots can perform precise repetitive industrial tasks at production cadence. The 84-second cycle time and 99+ percent placement accuracy across 90,000+ parts is operating-grade evidence that humanoids can hit production-line cadence, not just demonstration cadence. The pilot answered the "but can they actually keep up with the line" question.

That eleven-month sustained operation in an industrial environment is achievable on current-generation humanoid hardware. The robots returned visibly scratched and worn but operationally complete. The pilot answered the "but will they fall apart in real use" question.

That integration with existing automation (six-axis welding robots, production-IT infrastructure, shop-floor logistics) is the critical enabler. BMW's published lessons emphasize that the technical pilot required involvement of production IT, occupational safety, production process management, and shop-floor logistics from the earliest test phases. The pilot answered the "what does it actually take to integrate" question with a process-level answer that subsequent humanoid pilots are now following.

What this deployment did NOT prove

Worth being explicit about: an eleven-month two-robot pilot is not a sustained commercial humanoid deployment in the same sense as Agility Robotics' multi-year RaaS at GXO Flowery Branch. The pilot ended on schedule with the robots retired rather than the operation expanded. As of May 2026, no Figure robots are operating at BMW Spartanburg, and BMW has separately initiated humanoid programs with AEON robots from Hexagon Robotics at Plant Leipzig in Germany rather than continuing with Figure at Spartanburg. The Leipzig pilot is targeted for full pilot phase starting summer 2026.

The BMW Spartanburg / Figure 02 pilot is therefore more accurately described as the canonical completed industrial humanoid evaluation rather than as the canonical sustained commercial humanoid deployment. The verified-record distinction matters for understanding what the deployment did and did not establish.

What to watch

Two things matter most for what BMW Spartanburg becomes in the next eighteen months.

First, whether Figure 03 returns to BMW Spartanburg or elsewhere in the BMW network. Figure has stated that lessons from Figure 02 now live in Figure 03; whether BMW deploys Figure 03 in production at Spartanburg, at Plant Leipzig alongside AEON, or at another BMW site is the question that determines whether the Figure-BMW relationship was a one-pilot test or a multi-generation manufacturer-customer partnership.

Second, whether BMW's Plant Leipzig pilot with AEON (Hexagon Robotics) and BMW's Center of Competence for Physical AI in Production produces a different evaluation outcome than the Spartanburg pilot. AEON uses wheeled mobility rather than bipedal walking; the Leipzig pilot focuses on high-voltage battery assembly. If AEON outperforms Figure 02 on BMW's production-criteria scoreboard, the BMW signal to the broader humanoid industry shifts.

The verified record is below. Numbers reflect BMW Group press releases, Figure AI public disclosures, and primary-source coverage as of late May 2026.