Meta pilots data center robots as staff say the machines could cut technician jobs
Meta is piloting robots that can plug in cables, reboot servers, and inspect equipment at its data centers. Current and former staff say the machines could reduce the ranks of technicians propping up its AI buildout.
The hardware is sourced from a mix of suppliers, said workers who asked not to be identified in a report by Wired. They are Watney Robotics in San Francisco, Kinova in Quebec, and ABB in Zurich.
A Kinova Gen3 arm and a finger that presses power buttons
In one experiment, a Kinova Gen3 robotic arm is tasked with cutting power to servers, while another machine is being tested to swap networking cables.
At some sites, the company has already deployed a device that resembles a finger, or a pointy stick, which prods the power button on a Mac Mini or similar box to reboot it on the command of a remote human.
Kinova and ABB declined to comment, Watney did not respond, and Meta itself declined to comment on the testing.
A cable-swapping robot that works could take over 80% of some people’s workloads, one Meta data center employee said.
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