Inside Meta’s push to put robots to work in data centers
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Meta is testing robots that can plug in cables, reset servers, and handle other tasks inside its data centers, according to several current and former workers familiar with the projects.
Key facts
One Meta data center worker estimates that if it’s successful, the bot could replace up to 80 percent of some people’s workloads
After Watney launched in 2023, it put out a demo of a laundry-folding robot that it claimed could also handle janitorial work inside businesses
Altoona Mayor Dean O’Connor tells WIRED he hasn’t given much thought to robots taking jobs at Meta’s data center, though he frames automation as inevitable
Company spokesperson Francis Brennan said that Meta is investing heavily in training and hiring workers to build and operate its data centers
Summary
Meta is using robots and related hardware from several different vendors, including Watney Robotics, Kinova, and ABB, according to the same workers, who asked to remain anonymous because they weren’t authorized to speak to the media. In one experiment, Meta is evaluating whether a Kinova Gen3 robotic arm could be used for power cycling or cutting off electricity to servers. One Meta data center worker estimates that if it’s successful, the bot could replace up to 80 percent of some people’s workloads. At some facilities, Meta quietly adopted another, relatively simple robot. Meta declined to comment on the testing described in this story.