Hyundai Motor Group-owned Boston Dynamics Inc. unveiled its newest Atlas robot line in a public demonstration on Monday at the CES 2026 annual trade show in Las Vegas.

“For the first time ever in public, please welcome Atlas to the stage,” Zachary Jackowski, general manager for Atlas at Boston Dynamics, told AP.

Atlas, a humanoid robot capable of autonomous actions, standing a towering six-feet, three-inches tall and weighing around 200 pounds, is already in production and will begin deployment in 2028. The company said the robot will help assemble cars in Hyundai’s electric vehicle manufacturing facility near Savannah, Georgia.

“For more than 30 years, Boston Dynamics has been building some of the world’s most advanced robots,” said Chief Executive Robert Playter. “This is the best robot we have ever built. Atlas is going to revolutionize the way industry works, and it marks the first step toward a long-term goal we have dreamed about since we were children — useful robots that can walk into our homes and help make our lives safer, more productive, and more fulfilling.”

Hyundai holds more than 80% of the robotics company after acquiring it from SoftBank in 2021. At the time, the car maker cited that it intended to merge its manufacturing power with Boston Dynamics’ advanced robotics for factory work and logistics.

Boston Dynamics is best known for its Spot robot, a dog-like quadruped that has been adopted across numerous industries to perform tasks including security and equipment inspection.

Atlas received a revamp in 2024 to change the model from using hydraulic “muscles” to become fully electric. The update to the series significantly enhanced the dexterity and strength of the robotic line, providing it with the necessary leap to increase capabilities for manufacturing floors.

The robot can be controlled in three different ways: fully autonomous mode, with an operator using hand controls, or using a table to direct its actions. Its limbs have a reach of about 7.5 feet and lift up to 110 pounds. “This generation of Atlas significantly reduces the amount of unique parts in the robot, and every component has been designed for compatibility with automotive supply chains,” Jackowski said.

Google DeepMind partnership

In addition to unveiling Atlas, Boston Dynamics also announced a partnership with Google LLC’s DeepMind AI research lab, aiming to bring cutting-edge artificial intelligence models to the robot.

DeepMind is well known for developing highly capable physical AI models that can provide the software for robot “brains,” providing advanced visual recognition and cognitive abilities. The research unit boasts powerful foundation models such as Gemini Robotics 1.5, which provides spatial control for robots, and Gemini Robotics-ER 1.5, which is an embodied intelligence model that helps them think.

Robotics foundation models are part of the advancement of physical AI, an advanced branch of AI that focuses on enabling machines to perceive, understand, reason and act within the physical world. Advancements in physical AI are at the core of intelligent robots and machines capable of learning to act autonomously alongside humans.

Image: Boston Dynamics