Humanoid robots are moving from prototype labs toward commercial use this year. In early January 2026 the New York Post reported that Agility’s Digit V4 – billed as the world’s first commercially deployed humanoid – is being sold to early adopters for about $20,000, with deliveries slated for later in 2026, and that 1X’s NEO Gamma, a 5‑foot‑6‑inch, camera‑infused humanoid, is already taking pre‑orders. Chinese firms are pulling ahead in early‑stage production; CNBC noted that Unitree’s newly unveiled H2 humanoid, which can dance, is part of a broader push that could see China scaling commercial humanoids faster than the United States, and that the company is preparing an IPO that could value it near $7 billion. Investment in the sector surged, with Forbes documenting $4.6 billion poured into humanoid robotics in 2025 – almost three times the previous year’s total – and analysts now project the market could reach $5 trillion by 2050. Boston Dynamics, backed by Hyundai, has upgraded its Atlas robot with an all‑electric body and Nvidia‑powered AI, enabling the machine to perform complex factory tasks, a development highlighted by CBS News. Meanwhile, the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing showcased over 500 competitors, including China’s R1 from Robbyant and the Tiangong biped, underscoring both the rapid technical progress and the occasional performance setbacks noted in coverage from New Scientist and Gizmodo. At CES, companies such as Sunday Robotics are training humanoids like Memo with household‑task data, aiming to bring non‑teleoperated home assistants to market soon, while analysts at CNET warn that the hype may be tempered by practical integration challenges.

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