Figure AI's Helix VLA model learns to load a dishwasher

Figure AI announced that its VLA (vision-language-action) model Helix learned to load a dishwasher using only new data, without changing the algorithm or adding special engineering. Helix can separate stacked plates and load them in order, pick up a glass with one hand, reorient it, and carefully place it with the other hand; it can also handle cluttered starting states and recover from grasp failures or collisions. The same model previously completed towel-folding and package-sorting tasks, and the company says this reflects the direction of a single general system learning new capabilities incrementally with data.