Agility Robotics plants its flag in Tesla’s backyard
Johnson is currently leading Agility through a reverse-merger that is expected to make it the first pure-play humanoid robot company on the public markets later this year.
Key takeaways
- By mid‑July 2026 several major developments underscore the accelerating humanoid‑robot race.
- Chinese electric‑vehicle leader BYD, which overtook Tesla as the world’s top EV seller in 2025, is now positioning its own humanoids for factory work, dealership service, and eventually homes, with a bold goal of installing three units per household to perform chores and offer companionship.
- Meanwhile, U.S. startup Agility Robotics has opened a 60,000‑square‑foot “robot school” in Fremont, California—just a few miles from Tesla’s new Optimus plant—to train its Digit bipedal robot for commercial manufacturing, distribution, and logistics; the company remains focused on industrial deployment rather than consumer models.
- In China, the unitree robotics firm continues its dominance in the market, having shipped roughly 10,000 humanoids to date and selling 5,500 in 2025 alone, while planning a Shanghai‑stock‑exchange listing at a $6 billion valuation.
- A former Red Bull engineer’s new startup, backed by a fresh $55 million round, is pursuing a “army of factory robots” that learn from human‑performed tasks, filling a data gap in robotic training.
Johnson is currently leading Agility through a reverse-merger that is expected to make it the first pure-play humanoid robot company on the public markets later this year. Founded in 2015 by a group of researchers who developed new techniques that allow robots to safely walk on two legs, Agility is trying to capitalize on its lead over a newer generation of AI-inspired robotic startups like Figure, 1X, the Bot Company, or Sunday Robotics.
While the arrival of transformer-based neural networks that helped give rise to LLMs also promises major advancements in robotic behavior, Agility is taking a practical approach to autonomy. Unlike many of the newer entrants to the humanoid space, Agility isn’t planning to offer in-home humanoid robots anytime soon. It’s a view that jibes with that of most independent robotics experts, who believe today’s most powerful robots aren’t safe enough for consumer use. Digit operates in a human-free space right now, but the version 5, expected to be unveiled this fall, will have the ability to sense humans and won’t need to be kept in a robot-only zone.
Co-founder and chief robot officer Jonathan Hurst said there is plenty of work to keep Agility busy in manufacturing and logistics alone. ### Topics
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Robotics
Agility Robotics plants its flag in Tesla’s backyard
Tim Fernholz
Agility Robotics is opening a 60,000-square-foot facility to train its humanoid robots in Fremont, California, just up the highway from the factory where Tesla is expected to start manufacturing its Optimus robots this year.
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