Meta corporation has begun testing industrial robots to perform technical tasks in its own data centers. The automated machines connect equipment, swap cables, restart servers, and carry out routine maintenance. The tests were reported by WIRED, citing current and former employees of the tech giant. The company is using hardware from three manufacturers for the experiments. The trials involve systems from Watney Robotics, Kinova, and ABB.
Meta is testing the Kinova Gen3 robotic arm for restarting servers and powering them down. Another system is used for replacing network cables. At some facilities, a simpler mechanism resembling a human finger has appeared. Operated via remote command from an employee, it presses the power button on compact Mac Mini computers to reboot them. One data center worker believes the cable-replacement robot is capable of handling up to eighty percent of the workload on certain positions. He told the publication that employees performing physical work can no longer feel fully secure in their jobs.
The corporation has been using some degree of automation for several years. Meta's data centers in Iowa and Virginia operate autonomous machines for transporting heavy server racks. Wheeled robots are also used there for equipment inventory and fault detection. However, the capabilities of these devices remain limited. Their cameras operate in grayscale and cannot distinguish a red indicator from a green one. The robots struggle when navigating turns and moving over cables laid across the floor. They require human assistance to move between buildings. The devices work more slowly than human employees and sit idle while charging.
Current systems are not suitable for certain complex tasks. They cannot handle routing large numbers of cables for supercomputers based on the Nvidia GB300. Since June 2025, the company has been testing dual-armed Watney robots at its campus in the city of Altoona. For now, they operate under human supervision and lag behind humans in operational speed. At the new Prometheus campus in New Albany, Ohio, Meta is testing four-wheeled ABB machines. These are equipped with a lifting mechanism and a six-axis robotic arm. The machines are used to reposition displaced components and may be granted greater autonomy going forward.
Sources cited by the publication described workers' concerns about potential layoffs. Some employees believe that the expansion of robotics will allow Meta to shift some responsibilities to less skilled personnel. Company spokesperson Francis Brennan dismissed these concerns. He stated that the corporation continues to hire and train specialists for the construction and operation of data centers. In 2026, the company launched a free training program covering electrical, mechanical, and plumbing work. For graduates, Meta guarantees employment in a number of states. Earlier in January, Mark Zuckerberg announced the launch of the Meta Compute initiative to strengthen the company's infrastructure.