Hyundai pulled back the curtain on something wild at CES 2026. Boston Dynamics’ Atlas humanoid robot made its first public appearance on a Las Vegas stage, and watching this thing walk around was equal parts fascinating and a little unnerving. Standing six feet tall, Atlas rose from the floor, walked around the stage, waved to the crowd, and rotated its head like an owl scanning for prey. You can say what you want about robots taking over, but the technology here is genuinely impressive.
- Atlas stands 6.2 feet tall and weighs about 198 pounds, with the ability to lift up to 110 pounds.
- Hyundai plans to deploy production versions of the Atlas at its Georgia EV factory by 2028 to help assemble vehicles.
- With 56 degrees of freedom and three tactile fingers, Atlas can handle delicate tasks with precision.
Boston Dynamics Finally Takes Atlas Out of the Lab
Monday’s demonstration at CES marked the first time Boston Dynamics publicly showed off its fully electric Atlas humanoid. Zachary Jackowski, the general manager for humanoid robots at Boston Dynamics, introduced the robot to a packed ballroom at a Las Vegas hotel. An engineer remotely controlled Atlas for the demo, but the production version will work autonomously when it arrives at real job sites.
Atlas walked smoothly across the stage, moving in ways that looked surprisingly natural for a machine. At the end of the presentation, the prototype swung its arms in a theatrical gesture to introduce the production model, which appeared in blue and looked slightly different from the prototype.
Hyundai already has production locked down and plans to ship these robots to its Georgia facility, which currently cranks out the 2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5 electric SUV. Built for $7.6 billion near Savannah, this factory started building vehicles in October 2024 and can produce up to 500,000 cars annually once it hits full capacity.
Google DeepMind Joins the Party
Hyundai also dropped another bombshell during the event. Google’s DeepMind will supply AI technology for Boston Dynamics robots, bringing some serious brainpower to these machines. Google actually owned Boston Dynamics back in 2013 before selling it to SoftBank, which then sold it to Hyundai in 2021. So this partnership is something of a homecoming.
Carolina Parada, senior director of robotics at Google DeepMind, explained that the goal is to develop robots that understand the physical world as humans do. Instead of programming robots with specific tasks, they want Atlas to learn from experience and adapt to different situations.
Tech specs are pretty wild. Atlas has 56 degrees of freedom with rotation joints and three fingers equipped with tactile sensing. Those fingers can handle small parts and place them gently without causing damage. With 360-degree cameras, the robot can see people approaching from any direction.
What This Means for Car Manufacturing
Hyundai plans to bring Atlas into its Robot Metaplant Application Center, or RMAC, where the 20 will learn how to perform specific movements like lifts and turns. Training data from RMAC will combine with real-world data from the Georgia factory to keep improving the robots over time.
Hyundai says Atlas will handle repetitive tasks like parts sequencing by 2028. With the ability to lift 110 pounds and work with precision, these robots could take over physically demanding jobs that wear down human workers. Hyundai’s warehouse robot Stretch has already unloaded more than 20 million boxes globally since launching in 2023, so the company has experience deploying robots at scale.
Alberto Rodriguez, director of Atlas behavior at Boston Dynamics, mentioned that athletic performance alone won’t cut it. Humanoid robots need to interact naturally with people if they’re going to work alongside human employees. Safety protocols are built into the hardware, but the AI from DeepMind should help Atlas learn appropriate behavior around people.
Is This Robot Actually Ready for Prime Time?
Hyundai isn’t messing around with timelines. All Atlas deployments for 2026 are already committed, with fleets heading to RMAC and Google DeepMind in the coming months. Additional customers can expect deliveries in early 2027.
Boston Dynamics designed this new Atlas robot specifically for mass production. Every component works with automotive supply chains, which should help the company build more reliable robots faster and cheaper than previous generations. Hyundai Mobis will supply the actuators, which make up about 60 percent of the total material cost.
Public demonstrations of humanoid robots are rare because companies hate it when things go wrong on stage. Remember when Russia’s humanoid fell flat on its face in November? Most robotics startups prefer posting slick videos on social media where they can edit out failures. Hyundai took a risk showing Atlas live, and the flawless performance probably gave competitors something to think about.
Should We Be Worried About Job Losses?
That same Georgia plant where Atlas will work was the site of a federal immigration raid last year that led to arrests of hundreds of workers, including more than 300 South Korean citizens. Hyundai executives say robots will create different jobs for people who service, train, and supervise the machines. But there’s no getting around the fact that humanoid robots will eventually replace some human positions.
For now, humanoids don’t have enough dexterity to threaten most jobs. That will change as the technology improves. Debates over robots and employment will only get louder as machines like Atlas become more capable.
Hyundai is betting big on robotics and AI. Executives plan to integrate 30,000 robots into car production facilities by 2028. Atlas might be the star of the show, but it’s just one piece of a much larger automation strategy. Whether that future excites you or worries you probably depends on which side of the assembly line you’re standing on.
This post may contain affiliate links. Meaning a commission is given should you decide to make a purchase through these links, at no cost to you. All products shown are researched and tested to give an accurate review for you.
