But I think the most interesting part is not the robots themselves, but the old problem that Fabric Foundation wants to solve: winner takes all.
The history of technology has actually been repeating the same script.
When operating systems appeared, only a few were left in the end.
When search engines appeared, only one was left in the end.
When social networks emerged, only a few giants remained.
The reason is simple: scale effect.
Once a platform gains a slight lead, data, users, and developers will concentrate on it, ultimately locking the entire industry down.
The world of robots is the same.
Imagine if the most powerful robot system is in the hands of one company.
It not only owns robots but also all skill models, data, and algorithm updates.
What will happen then?
The answer is actually very straightforward:
The production capacity of the entire real world might be controlled by one system.
The white paper actually straightforwardly mentions this risk—once robot technology matures, the scale effect is likely to lead to a 'winner takes all' situation.
whitepaper
This is the context in which Fabric Foundation emerges.
Its goal is actually very simple:
Do not let the robot world become another story of technological monopoly.
So the design logic of Fabric is completely reversed.
It's not about first creating a company, then a product, and then an ecosystem.
But rather to first establish agreements.
Robot skills, data, computing, and task settlement should all be placed in an open network as much as possible.
Anyone can access it.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can participate in governance.
In other words, what Fabric wants to do is not to create the 'strongest robot company'.
But rather the infrastructure layer of the robot era.
Just like the internet.
The internet is not owned by any particular company.
HTTP is not controlled by any particular company.
Anyone can build websites and applications on it.
What Fabric Foundation wants to do is essentially to replicate this model in the robot world.
In the future, many robot brands, many robot applications, and many skill modules may emerge, but they will all operate on the same open network.
In this way, the true owner of the system is not a particular company, but the whole ecosystem.
Of course, this goal sounds very idealistic.
Because historically, most technological revolutions end up being concentrated in capital. Open networks often lose to closed platforms.
But the problem is—
If robots really become the most important production tools of the future, then we may really need a different starting point.
Otherwise, decades later, humanity may face a very strange reality:
Robots are working.
AI is making decisions.
And the switch of the world economy is controlled by a very small number of people.@Fabric Foundation
What Fabric Foundation wants to avoid is actually this future.
It is betting on one thing:
Robots do not necessarily have to belong to the giants.
They can also belong to the network.
