Amazon founder, billionaire Jeff Bezos, and Microsoft are among some big names to invest in robotics company Figure, which is developing humanoid robots.

Figure, which last month inked a deal with BMW Manufacturing to bring humanoid robots into automotive production, says it raised USD675 million in Series B funding, which will be used to accelerate the introduction of its humanoid robots to market.

As well as Bezos, through Bezos Expeditions, and Microsoft, OpenAI Startup Fund, NVIDIA, Venture Capital, Intel Capital, Align Ventures and ARK Invest participated in the funding round.

Figure says it also agreed to collaborate with OpenAI to develop next generation artificial intelligence (AI) models for humanoid robots.

"We're blown away by Figure's progress to date and we look forward to working together to open up new possibilities for how robots can help in everyday life," says Peter Welinder, OpenAI’s vice president of product and partnerships.

The Figure team is made up of experts from Boston Dynamics, Tesla, Google DeepMind and Archer Aviation.

Figure will leverage Microsoft Azure for AI infrastructure, training and storage. 

"Our vision at Figure is to bring humanoid robots into commercial operations as soon as possible,” says Figure founder and chief executive officer Brett Adcock

"AI and robotics are the future, and I am grateful to have the support of investors and partners who believe in being at the forefront."

Figure says its human form prototype, Figure 01, is the world’s first commercially-viable autonomous humanoid robot.

Figure 01 is 5 ft 6 in (167 cm) in height, weighs 60 kg, has a payload of 20 kg and a five-hour runtime.