Meta is experimenting with robots inside its data centers, deploying hardware from multiple vendors to automate physical tasks that until recently required human technicians. According to workers who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss the effort publicly, the company is testing systems from Watney Robotics, Kinova, and ABB. Kinova and ABB declined to comment, while Watney did not respond to requests for comment.
One trial involves evaluating whether a Kinova Gen3 robotic arm could handle power cycling, or cutting electricity to servers. A separate robot is being tested to swap networking cables. One Meta data center worker estimated that a successful deployment could replace up to 80 percent of certain job workloads. “We thought those of us performing the physical tasks were safe for a while, but not anymore,” the worker said. “It’s coming for us all, unfortunately.”
At some facilities, Meta has quietly adopted a simpler device. It resembles a finger, or a pointy stick, that can press the power button on a Mac Mini or similar device to restart it when a human sends a remote command.
What Meta Says About Its Workforce
Meta declined to comment on the specific testing. Company spokesperson Francis Brennan said in a statement that Meta is investing heavily in training and hiring workers to build and operate its data centers. “America is in the middle of its biggest infrastructure boom since World War II, and there’s a major shortage of skilled workers to fill the roles; we need more workers, not fewer,” he said.
Still, the company has signaled longer-term ambitions. At a conference last year, Eric Xu, senior manager for robotics at Meta, said the company’s “long-term goals” are to place robots in data centers, arguing they could speed up incident response, monitor the environment, and handle preventative maintenance. “We believe more collaboration and research will be needed, but we have to start, otherwise we don’t have a chance to do this,” he said.
Why Data Center Robots Are Becoming Viable
Until recently, robots were largely unsuited to the delicate work performed in data centers. They were expensive, and earlier industry trials sometimes ended with machines crushing servers while attempting simple tasks, according to a person briefed on the experimentation. That has changed as hardware costs have fallen and the AI models powering robots have grown far more capable. Several startups are now developing commercial robots that can assemble servers, swap parts, and replace wires.
Supporters argue that robots could deliver more consistent output at lower cost than human labor, particularly in less populous regions where data centers are common but qualified workers are scarce. They also promote a pro-worker message, suggesting robots could take on the most repetitive and dangerous tasks while freeing technicians to focus on complex problems. Over the longer term, removing workers from the equation could make it more feasible to operate data centers underwater, in space, or in other environments inhospitable to humans.
