# Meta Built a Humanoid Prototype Called Max With China's Fourier and Started a Second Version in September, The Information Reports

Times of AI Desk · 2026-11-01 · Frontier Labs

[https://timesof.ai/2026/11/meta-fourier-max-humanoid-prototype-the-information](https://timesof.ai/2026/11/meta-fourier-max-humanoid-prototype-the-information)

> Meta and Shanghai-based Fourier built a humanoid prototype known inside Meta as Max in about three months, The Information reported on October 31, and began work on Max 2 in September. Max reportedly stands about 1.5 metres tall, weighs about 48 kg and runs on Nvidia's Jetson Thor. Meta told the outlet the work is internal research and it has no plans to sell the units.

Meta's home-robot ambitions have so far shown up as hiring and acquisitions; this report gives them a body, a name and a timeline. If it is accurate, Meta went from a design brief to a working humanoid in about three months by borrowing a Chinese manufacturer's hardware, which says more about how fast prototypes can now be built than about when anyone will buy one. Meta says it has no plans to sell them.

## What happened

Meta has built a prototype humanoid robot with Shanghai-based **Fourier** in about three months and is working on a second version, Jyoti Mann reported for **The Information** on **October 31**, citing people familiar with the project. Reuters relayed the report the same day and said it could not immediately verify it.

The robot is known inside Meta as **Max**. It stands about 1.5 metres tall, weighs about 48 kg, runs on Nvidia's Jetson Thor and has five-fingered hands, built-in speakers and a screen that shows facial expressions, according to The Information as relayed by TNW and Humanoids Daily. Li-Chen Miller, Meta's vice president of product for robotics, spent almost two months at Fourier's Shanghai factory, and Meta showed Max at an internal robotics summit in late August, the report said. Work on **Max 2**, with a new torso, better hands, a projector and sensors to help with stairs, began in September.

Meta's requirements included recognising a voice from five metres away, reading a wave or gesture from three metres and keeping eye contact, Humanoids Daily reported, citing The Information. Chief technology officer Andrew Bosworth has described humanoids internally as a physical form of Muse, Meta's consumer AI agent, the report said; Meta released its first Muse frontier model, [Muse Wonder](https://timesof.ai/2026/10/meta-muse-wonder-first-frontier-model), in October. Humanoids Daily says The Information describes Max as a customised platform rather than a rebadged version of Fourier's GR-3.

A Meta spokesperson told The Information: "this effort with Fourier is focused on internal research and experimentation, and we have no plans to sell these units." One of The Information's sources said Meta has not set a launch date for a humanoid product, TNW reported.

## Limits

- Every account we read traces to The Information's report, which we could not read; TNW, Humanoids Daily and Reuters relay it rather than confirm it independently, and Reuters said it could not verify it.
- The voice, gesture and eye-contact figures are design requirements in the report, not test results.
- Meta has confirmed only that the Fourier work is internal research; it has not described Max's capabilities publicly.

## Sources

- [Reuters via Investing.com: Meta builds humanoid robot with Chinese startup Fourier, The Information says (October 31, 2026)](https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/meta-builds-humanoid-robot-with-chinese-startup-fourier-the-information-says-4989297)
- [TNW: Meta built a humanoid robot with China's Fourier, The Information reports (November 1, 2026)](https://thenextweb.com/news/meta-humanoid-robot-fourier-max)
- [Humanoids Daily: Meta reportedly built "Max" humanoid with Fourier, with a second version underway (November 1, 2026)](https://www.humanoidsdaily.com/news/meta-fourier-max-humanoid-prototype)