In brief

• Boston Dynamics introduced the production version of its Atlas humanoid robot at CES 2026 in Las Vegas.
• Initial deployments will ship to Hyundai facilities and Google DeepMind, with more customers expected in 2027.
• Hyundai Motor Group holds an approximately 80% controlling stake in the robotics company.

Boston Dynamics—whose YouTube videos of robots have both fascinated and terrified users for years—debuted a commercially deployable version of its Atlas humanoid robot at CES 2026 in Las Vegas, marking a shift from research demos to real-world use.

The company said the launch followed more than a decade of research dating back to the first Atlas robot in 2013, alongside recent advances in artificial intelligence that made commercial deployment possible.

“We’ve been working on humanoids for more than a decade at Boston Dynamics, always keeping a close watch on when the missing pieces of technology would fall into place to make it truly commercially viable,” Zachary Jackowski, VP and GM for humanoid robots at Boston Dynamics, said during the presentation. “The rapid advancements in AI over the past few years are the pieces that we needed. Now it’s time to officially take Atlas out of the lab.”

Boston Dynamics said Atlas is designed for industrial jobs like material handling and order fulfillment, and built to move freely, grasp objects with its hands, and monitor its surroundings while working. According to the company, Atlas can lift up to 110 pounds and has a reach of roughly 7.5 feet.

“This lets Atlas move even more efficiently than humans, particularly in manufacturing environments where every second counts,” he said. “We’ve also designed Atlas’s head and face very purposefully. We want folks working with Atlas to know that Atlas is a helpful robot, not a person,” adding that Atlas was not designed to move like a human.

Boston Dynamics also revealed it’s working with Google DeepMind to expand what Atlas can do on the factory floor. Using DeepMind’s Gemini Robotics models in Atlas, Boston Dynamics aims to help it better perceive its surroundings, work through tasks, and operate more autonomously.

“We developed our Gemini robotics models to bring AI into the physical world,” Google DeepMind Senior Director of Robotics Carolina Parada said in a statement. “We are excited to begin working with the Boston Dynamics team to explore what’s possible with their new Atlas robot as we develop new models to expand the impact of robotics, and to scale robots safely and efficiently.”

Investment in humanoid robots has increased sharply in recent years as advances in AI and labor shortages push companies to test robots in real industrial settings, with firms including Tesla, Hyundai, and Nvidia expanding pilot programs and raising capital to move humanoids into manufacturing and logistics.

A May 2025 Morgan Stanley report projects the humanoid robot market could surpass $5 trillion by 2050, with more than 1 billion humanoids in use, largely in industrial and commercial roles, primarily led by design advances in China, including the Unitree G1 humanoid robot.

That momentum is reflected in Boston Dynamics’ Atlas program, which is closely tied to Hyundai Motor Group, which acquired an 80% controlling stake in the robotics company from SoftBank for $880 million in 2021.

The company acknowledged the robot shown on stage was a prototype, guided by a human pilot. Still, Jackowski said Atlas is designed to operate autonomously in real-world settings and to stay on the job even as its battery runs down.

“Atlas can perform these tasks at a reliable, consistent pace for about four hours using its dual swappable batteries,” Jackowski said. “And when they run low, Atlas navigates back to its charging station and swaps its own batteries, before getting right back to work.”

Generally Intelligent Newsletter

A weekly AI journey narrated by Gen, a generative AI model.