Figure AI is being sued by its former head of product safety, Robert Gruendel, who claims he was wrongfully terminated in September 2025 after repeatedly warning that the company’s humanoid robots posed serious physical dangers. According to the lawsuit, Gruendel alerted senior executives that the robots were “powerful enough to fracture a human skull,” citing a malfunction that allegedly carved a quarter-inch gash in a stainless-steel refrigerator door. He asserts that his safety roadmap—presumably shared with investors during a funding round—was downgraded just before the round closed, and that his concerns were ignored. Gruendel is seeking economic, compensatory, and punitive damages and has demanded a jury trial.
