Meta and Fourier Built a Humanoid Robot Prototype in 3 Months

Meta has built a prototype of a humanoid robot together with the Chinese startup Fourier, and it took only about three months, according to people familiar with the project. The working name of the machine is Max, and the two companies are already developing a second version.

Meta itself plays the project down. The company describes the work with Fourier as internal research and experiments, and it has no plans to sell robots for now.

What Max can do

Max weighs about 48 kg and stands 150 cm tall. It runs on an Nvidia Jetson Thor chip. The robot has a display that shows facial expressions, built-in speakers and five-fingered hands designed to handle small objects.

The collaboration was hands-on. Meta's robotics team travelled to China, and Li-Chen Miller, the company's vice president of robotics products, spent almost two months at Fourier's factory in Shanghai. Max was shown to some Meta employees at an internal robotics conference in August 2026.

Version two and the bigger plan

Work on the next generation began in September. It is set to get a new body, improved hands, a projector and additional sensors so it can climb stairs.

Meta reportedly sees humanoid robots as a possible physical extension of its AI agent Muse. In the long run, the company wants to develop devices that can help around the house.

The project shows that Meta is moving beyond software and smart glasses into general-purpose robotics, and that it is willing to lean on a Chinese hardware partner to move quickly. For now it remains an experiment: there is no product, no price and no launch date. The next visible step is likely to be the second-generation Max, which is already being built.