Few movie endings are as memorable as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s final moments in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Now, a robotics company has recreated that famous scene using actual humanoid robots, and there’s a surprisingly strong automotive connection.
Figure AI, the California-based robotics startup, recently retired its second-generation Figure 02 humanoid robots. These machines had helped demonstrate how humanoid robots could work in factories, including a deployment at BMW’s manufacturing facility in South Carolina.
Instead of quietly dismantling the retired machines, Figure decided to give them a much more dramatic send-off. The company trained the robots to leap into molten steel at a foundry in Finland, filming the entire process.
The result looks like something created with computer-generated effects, especially with Schwarzenegger himself involved. Figure insists the footage is genuine, however, and says the robots performed their final jumps autonomously.
These Robots Helped Build BMWs
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Figure 02 played an important role in the company’s development, particularly as it began testing humanoid robots in real workplaces. Its deployment at BMW marked Figure’s first major automotive manufacturing application.
The company also credits Figure 02 with several other milestones, including its early Helix AI development, household task demonstrations, and logistics operations. These machines effectively served as testbeds for the technologies now being carried into newer generations.
With the Figure 03 fleet expanding, maintaining the older robots became increasingly impractical. Figure also faced the challenge of disposing of machines containing proprietary actuators and other custom-developed hardware without exposing valuable intellectual property.
Taking every robot apart would have consumed engineering resources needed for the upcoming Figure 04. That prompted the company to ask the internet for suggestions, eventually receiving an appropriately cinematic answer from Schwarzenegger: melt them.
They Actually Learned To Jump Into Molten Steel
Figure didn’t simply push its old robots into a furnace. According to the company, engineers trained the machines using stunt performers’ movements, computer simulations, and repeated practice jumps onto large airbags.
The preparation took place at Figure’s San Jose headquarters before the robots were transported to Finland. The company contacted foundries in the United States and Mexico before finding one willing to accommodate the unusual project.
The foundry presented its own challenges, including intense heat and electromagnetic interference that reportedly disrupted some filming equipment. Figure says the robots continued functioning throughout the operation, ultimately executing their programmed jumps into the molten metal.
Schwarzenegger also participated in the production, completing the connection to the 1991 science-fiction classic. The finished video shows the humanoid machines meeting a fate remarkably similar to that of his famous T-800 character.
Their Metal Will Live On
Unlike the movie, this wasn’t about preventing an artificial intelligence apocalypse. Figure’s stated purpose was to securely destroy obsolete hardware while marking the retirement of a robot generation that had helped establish the company.
The melted material is being repurposed into limited-edition collectible artifacts, with some souvenirs offered for $500. Figure says a small number of Figure 02 units will remain in storage rather than meeting the same fiery end, although few industrial machines get to retire with Arnold Schwarzenegger watching them disappear into molten steel.