Boston Dynamics’ Tesla Bot competitor Atlas will start building Hyundai vehicles in 2028

Boston Dynamics unveiled the latest version of its humanoid robot, Atlas, on Monday at CES in Las Vegas. The two companies claim that the robot, which features a glowing facial circuit and an all-electric, battery-powered body, is so advanced that it will soon be working alongside parent company Hyundai’s human factory workers.

Hyundai said it plans to mass-produce Atlas as “production-ready humanoid robots” that will be operated at the automaker’s vehicle plants, starting in Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant in Savannah, Georgia. The company estimates it will produce 30,000 robots annually starting in 2028.

The company also plans to run its first Atlas robots that year “on processes with proven safety and quality benefits, such as part sequencing.” By 2030, Hyundai says the Atlas will be up to tasks that involve “repetitive movements, heavy loads, and other complex operations.” The automaker envisions a “harmonious collaboration between humans and robots,” despite widespread concerns about job losses as a result of increased automation.

Boston Dynamics began as a spin-out of MIT in 1992. The company used funding from DARPA to create robots such as BigDogbut is best known for the widespread popularity that its bots have gained online. Its main stars are Atlas, a bipedal robot She can run and do backflipsand Spot, a smaller, four-legged “dog” that has been tested in a variety of scenarios, from Grazing sheep to Helping healthcare workers during the pandemic.

The company began selling Spot in June 2020 for $74,500is aimed at companies looking for an automated way to patrol and inspect warehouses. Despite its widespread fame, Boston Dynamics has I constantly lost millions of dollars a year For a number of years.

Hyundai Acquired Boston Dynamics in 2021 In a deal, the company was valued at $1.1 billion. The automaker has long expected that robots will become an increasingly prominent presence in its factories over time. With today’s demonstration, Hyundai hopes to prove that its robot is more advanced and more capable of performing physical tasks than competitors such as Tesla Optimus robot. He rode a Tesla A wave of hype around artificial intelligence In recent years to a market value of more than $1 trillion, more than 15 times that of Hyundai, despite selling far fewer cars.

The transition of Atlas from a research platform to a commercial robot certainly represents an important milestone for Boston Dynamics and its parent company. Hyundai’s endeavor to put the Atlas into volume production is also likely to be very expensive. The companies did not say how much it costs to manufacture Atlas, but Boston Dynamics sells its Spot robots For about $75,000 per unit. The cost of Atlas is estimated at hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Hyundai claims that its proprietary supply chain, access to advanced manufacturing facilities, and previous work on AI-based software and software-defined vehicles give it a unique advantage that will enable it to scale up its robotics production while also keeping costs low.

These costs are likely to rise as Atlas becomes more nimble and independent. Hyundai said the latest all-electric version of the robot has 56 degrees of freedom (DoF), up from the previous 50 degrees of freedom (DoF). Reported in April 2025. The robot has fully rotating joints and “human-sized hands with tactile sensors,” and is designed to handle tasks autonomously. It can be taught to “most tasks” in a day, can automatically replace its batteries for continuous use throughout the day, and can lift up to 110 lbs (50 kg). It is also waterproof and can operate in temperatures as low as -4 and up to 104°F (20 to 40°C).

For many years, Boston Dynamics has raved about its demos Bipedal robots are clever Perform cartwheels, break dances and barrel rolls. However, news that Hyundai is about to commission Atlas into its factories may change the public’s perception of the friendly-looking robot, especially if it emerges as a potential job finisher. Amazon, for example, hopes its robots will replace more than 600,000 jobs in the United States by 2033, according to Recently leaked strategic documents. Hyundai said that by 2028, its $21 billion investment in the United States will create 14,000 direct jobs, and more than 100,000 jobs if indirect jobs are included.

Hyundai is also announcing a partnership with Google’s DeepMind AI research lab to combine Boston Dynamics’ robotic expertise with Google’s AI enterprise models. The automaker is also acquiring artificial intelligence chips and software from Nvidia.

Of course, going from dazzling demos to a practical product capable of justifying its enormous costs will pose an equally formidable challenge for Hyundai and Boston Dynamics. There’s a lot of hype around humanoid robots, and there’s not a lot of evidence that they’re worth the complexity and effort involved in building them — yet.