Figure AI CEO Threatens Defamation Lawsuit Against Fortune Over Partnership Reporting

Figure AI Threatens Legal Action Against Fortune Over Partnership Reporting

Figure AI CEO Brett Adcock has announced the company is taking legal steps against Fortune magazine, alleging defamation and falsehoods in a recent article concerning the startup's business and partnerships, particularly its high-profile agreement with BMW Manufacturing.

In a public post on LinkedIn this morning, Adcock stated that Figure's litigation counsel initiated action "to protect and defend the reputation and the future of Figure." He characterized Fortune's reporting by journalist Jason Del Rey as containing "egregious inaccuracies," "false reporting," and "downright lies."

"What we won’t stand for are the mischaracterizations and downright lies written in the recent Fortune article... Figure’s litigation counsel will aggressively pursue all available legal remedies - including, but not limited to, defamation claims - to correct the publication's blatant misstatements," Adcock wrote.

Context: Scrutiny of the BMW Deal

The dispute appears centered on a Fortune article published earlier this month. While the original partnership announcement in January generated considerable excitement about deploying Figure's humanoid robots in BMW's Spartanburg, South Carolina plant, the Fortune piece reportedly suggested a more cautious reality.

As previously covered by us, reporting indicated the initial phase involved a small number of robots focused on identifying use cases and testing feasibility, rather than immediate, large-scale integration into production – a characterization aligning with BMW's stated 'phased approach'.

Figure AI has showcased increasingly sophisticated capabilities for its Figure robot, including autonomous task learning. However, the Fortune report seemed to temper expectations about the speed and scale of real-world industrial deployment, highlighting the significant hurdles still facing humanoid robots in complex manufacturing environments.

Figure Pushes Back

Adcock's LinkedIn post framed the decision to pursue legal action as a necessary defense against damaging reporting. "After spending time contemplating whether to ignore or address the egregious inaccuracies and false reporting, I decided that Figure cannot take this lying down," he stated.

He acknowledged that media skepticism is expected when building a groundbreaking company but drew a line at what he termed inaccuracies and mischaracterizations used for "clickbait."

The specific inaccuracies Figure alleges in the Fortune article were not detailed in Adcock's public post. Fortune magazine has not yet publicly responded to Adcock's statements or the threatened legal action. The outcome of this dispute could have implications for how emerging robotics companies navigate public perception and media reporting.

Here is the Linkedin post word by word:

At 9am ET this morning, my litigation counsel took action to protect and defend the reputation and the future of Figure for all its stakeholders, and especially its employees and investors who believe in the future of AI and robotics

At first, we were going to ignore the noise, because we are focused on what this company is about: bringing humanoid robots to the masses. But after spending time contemplating whether to ignore or address the egregious inaccuracies and false reporting, I decided that Figure cannot take this lying down and must make sure nothing like this happens again

We knew building one of the most groundbreaking companies on the planet would not be easy, and media would ask questions. What we won’t stand for are the mischaracterizations and downright lies written in the recent Fortune article by Jason Del Rey about Figure’s business and its partnerships. As we informed Fortune today, Figure’s litigation counsel will aggressively pursue all available legal remedies - including, but not limited to, defamation claims - to correct the publication's blatant misstatements

It’s ok for media to be skeptical of what they do not know. It’s not ok to publicize inaccuracies or twist words purely for clickbait

See the original Linkedin post here