Hyundai Thinks the Next Mobility Revolution Isn’t a Car - Autoweek
Hyundai used Boston Dynamics’ humanoid robot, called Atlas, to illustrate the point. Shown at CES in production form and positioned at the center of Hyundai Motor Group’s robotics push, the automaker says Atlas is designed specifically for industrial enviro...
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China is leading an exponential surge in humanoid‑robot production, with Omdia projecting the global market for general‑purpose embodied‑intelligent robots to double annually and reach 2.6 million units by 2035, driven by Chinese volume manufacturing and U.S. AI advances. At CES 2026 in Las Vegas, the industry highlighted both promising breakthroughs and stark limitations: NVIDIA unveiled new vision‑language and reasoning models (Gr00t and Cosmos) aimed at giving robots a “ChatGPT moment,” while AMD backed Italy’s Generative Robotics with a humanoid called Gene.01 for industrial use. Chinese firms such as Unitree displayed high‑profile demos—including a $70,000 G1 robot performing boxing and dancing—yet observers noted frequent performance failures and limited real‑world capability. Boston Dynamics, in partnership with Hyundai, introduced a production‑ready Atlas humanoid capable of lifting about 110 pounds and operating in harsh factory conditions, with Hyundai planning deployments from 2028 and a U.S. plant that could output up to 30,000 units annually. Meanwhile, London‑based startup Humanoid compressed a typical 18‑month hardware cycle to seven months, delivering an alpha version of its HMND 01 platform that combines wheeled industrial bots and bipedal research units, leveraging NVIDIA’s Isaac simulation tools and a new Jetson‑based networking stack. Despite the rapid advances, analysts warn that true general‑purpose robots that handle diverse, unstructured tasks remain emerging, and some industry voices question whether current humanoids will ever meet the practical expectations of consumers and manufacturers.
Hyundai used Boston Dynamics’ humanoid robot, called Atlas, to illustrate the point. Shown at CES in production form and positioned at the center of Hyundai Motor Group’s robotics push, the automaker says Atlas is designed specifically for industrial environments, with human-scale proportions, tactile-sensing hands, and 56 degrees of freedom that allow it to move and work in spaces traditionally reserved for people. Hyundai plans to begin using Atlas at its Metaplant America facility in Savannah, Georgia, starting in 2028, at first tasked with handling parts sequencing before expanding into assembly and other repetitive or physically demanding tasks by 2030.
Hyundai Group Hyundai will support that effort with data-driven factories, it says, including its new Robot Metaplant Application Center, where robots are trained using real-world production data. Hyundai is also strengthening its relationship with NVIDIA for AI infrastructure and simulation, while Boston Dynamics has entered a separate collaboration with Google DeepMind to accelerate humanoid robot intelligence. Skip to Content
Hyundai Thinks the Next Mobility Revolution Isn’t a Car
AI-powered robots take center stage in the Group’s long-term vision.
By Natalie Neff
Hyundai Group
Hyundai Motor Group says it believes the next frontier lies not in electrification or autonomy, but in… robots. The automaker does try to take the edge off by clarifying that these robots will supposedly be working alongside people. Still, the sting is there for those prepping for the coming of our new overlords.
The pronouncement came under the banner “Partnering Human Progress,” with Hyundai saying its strategy is aimed at the era of “Physical AI,” where artificial intelligence is embodied in machines operating in the real world.
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