Meta Data Centre Robot Tests Move From Power Buttons To Cable Work
Wired reported in an Ars Technica-hosted article that Meta is testing robots for cable swaps, server resets and other data centre tasks as AI infrastructure expands, though the systems still face speed, battery and dexterity limits.
Meta is testing robots for data centre work that still depends on technicians’ hands, Wired reported in an Ars Technica-hosted article, moving automation trials from inventory transport toward cable swaps, server resets and part reseating inside AI infrastructure sites.
The trials cover several kinds of machines rather than one finished replacement system.
Current and former workers familiar with the projects described hardware from Watney Robotics, Kinova and ABB, including a Kinova Gen3 arm being evaluated for server power cycling and a separate robot being tested for networking-cable swaps.
The work remains uneven.
One data centre worker estimated that a successful cabling robot could replace up to 80 percent of some workloads, while another simple device already in use at some facilities presses a Mac Mini or other device power button after a remote human prompt.
Meta’s tugger and inventory robots are also operating in several data centres, including Iowa and Virginia, but the inventory machine still needs human help with some fault checks because its grayscale camera cannot distinguish green and red indicator lights.
Meta declined to comment on the specific testing.
Spokesperson Francis Brennan said in a statement that the company is investing in training and hiring workers for its data centres, arguing that a U.S. infrastructure boom and skilled-labor shortage mean the sector needs more workers rather than fewer.
The company’s own robotics leadership has framed data centres as a long-term automation target.
Eric Xu, senior manager for robotics at Meta, said at a conference last year that robots could help with incident response, environmental monitoring and preventative maintenance, while acknowledging that more collaboration and research would be needed.
The Altoona, Iowa, campus has become one test ground for that shift.
Meta operates its largest data centre campus there, and workers familiar with the effort described dual-armed Watney robots supervised by humans for cabling work.
The machines are not yet as fast as people, but the same campus often prototypes technologies later moved to other Meta sites.
Other large operators are exploring adjacent uses.
Microsoft and Google announced separate data centre robotics investments, Amazon discussed robots for parts recycling, and Microsoft research executive Ashley Llorens described faulty server-rack replacement as an economically valuable task the company is examining.
The technical limits still shape deployment.
Workers described battery recharging downtime, slow inventory checks, corner-navigation problems and cable paths that interrupt wheeled robots.
Helen Oleynikova, chief executive of Exclaim Robotics, said data centre robotics has produced many pilots and demos but no provable working solution.
Meta has also acknowledged internally that some jobs, including intensive cabling for an Nvidia GB300 supercomputer, remain beyond current robot capabilities.
For Meta, the robotics push is not yet a full labor substitute.
It is a staged attempt to automate repetitive, risky or remote-reset tasks while data centre construction expands and AI hardware becomes more expensive to operate at scale.
