Figure previews F.04 hand design as Adcock argues dexterity demands mechanical complexity

Brett Adcock showed off the hand planned for Figure's fourth-generation humanoid — and argued that truly capable manipulation may require embracing complexity, not minimizing it.

Figure founder and CEO Brett Adcock took to X on October 3 to show off the hand design planned for the company's F.04 humanoid, pairing the hardware preview with an engineering argument: building genuinely capable manipulation may require accepting more mechanical complexity rather than engineering it away.

The post is a look at hardware, not evidence of performance. Figure has published no specifications for the new hand — no degrees of freedom, actuator count, tactile-sensor layout, or payload figures — and no independent benchmark has shown what it can reliably handle. What dexterity the design actually delivers remains unproven.

The preview arrives as Figure retools around its next generation. The company announced on September 30 that it would retire its F.02 fleet, saying that dismantling the robots would divert staff time and slow F.04's launch. Back in May, Adcock said F.04 had reached full design lock, with parts beginning to ship. The hand reveal is the latest visible step in that transition — and it doubles as a mea culpa: in August, Adcock publicly called Figure's original tendon-driven hand an engineering mistake.

Adcock's argument puts the dexterity-versus-manufacturability tradeoff in plain view. A more intricate hand can grasp in more ways; it also multiplies the problems of building it consistently, keeping it working, and controlling it at scale. The bet is now visible; the specifications and repeatable task results that would settle it have not yet been shown.