Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot is leaving the lab for the factory. Hyundai Motor Group said it plans to deploy these humanoid robots at its electric vehicle plant outside of Savannah, Georgia, starting in 2028, one of the most concrete large-scale deployments of humanoid robots in automotive manufacturing yet.
This represents a major pivot for Atlas, which has traditionally been used to amaze people with backflips and parkour demonstrations.
Today, though, the robot is being positioned as a genuinely practical factory worker, not just some kind of impressive tech demo. Hyundai isn’t thinking small either: the company intends to mass-produce up to 30,000 Atlas units per year at the very same facility in Georgia once production fully ramps up.
How Atlas Robots Will Support Human Operators?
The robots will not be replacing whole lines at first. In the first phase of the 2028 rollout, the Atlas robots will be responsible for relatively simple but mundane tasks like part sequencing, sequencing the components in the right order for vehicle installation.
The robots will be in charge of kitting and moving the components around the line. This work is not only tiring for the human operators but is a dull activity.
By the year 2030, the company believes that Atlas has the potential to move into more complex assembly tasks that are repetitive, heavy, or complex. However, the company is more concerned with cooperation rather than substitution.
As stated by the company, the plan aims at attaining a “harmonious partnership between humans and robots.”
Hyundai’s Electric Evolution: The New High-Agility Atlas Robot
The production version of the Atlas robot includes several impressive specs. The robot, which is fully electric, includes 56 degrees of freedom, an improvement over its 2025 version, which only had 50 degrees of freedom. The joints included within this robot are very much like those of a human being, enabling the robot to move with agility, similar to human beings.
Hands: The hands are special, including the ability to sense through touch so that the robot can work the parts and tools required in car assembly operations without human intervention.
Atlas requires only a day to learn a wide range of tasks, meaning factories can redeploy the robots relatively fast if requirements change.
How the DeepMind-Powered Atlas of Hyundai Is Challenging Tesla’s AI Strategy
For its operations to go on smoothly, Atlas employs an automated battery swapping system. Atlas has a lifting power of up to 50 kilograms (about 110 pounds); hence, Atlas can handle heavier automotive components.
Atlas is also setting the stage for a direct competition for Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot. Both robots are full-size biped robots designed for industrial applications, but also for other purposes in the future.
However, their strategies are worlds apart.
Tesla, for its part, is starting with its own AI capabilities, using the same technology platform that powers its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving systems.
Hyundai, meanwhile, is integrating the robotics knowledge of Boston Dynamics with heavyweight AI technology partners Google DeepMind, for its AI models, and NVIDIA, for its AI chips and software platforms.
“The big difference here is the level of specificity. Where Tesla has shown prototypes of its ‘Optimus’ robots and has laid out goals for automating its factories, the big news here is that Hyundai has put its money where its mouth is: 30,000 units annually starting in 2028 in a certain facility in the state of Georgia. Another way of looking at this is: it has one of the most detailed humanoid robot rollout plans among the big car manufacturers.”
Can Hyundai and Boston Dynamics Lead the Humanoid Race?
Despite the detailed announcement, there are a number of important questions that have yet to be answered. Hyundai has not revealed the price per unit for its Atlas robots, or the number of jobs that will be performed in each factory by the new machines.
The company also hasn’t provided any information regarding union negotiations or discussions with the current workforce.
The company is marketing this effort as a wider strategy for so-called “physical AI” and how it plans to use humanoid robots alongside its automotive operations. A number of Hyundai affiliates are working on this effort, with Boston Dynamics, which it has bought, leading this effort for its development of robots.
With humanoid robots emerging in companies such as 1X, Figure, and Agility Robotics poised towards commercialization too, the timeline established by Hyundai can indeed serve as a benchmark in the industry. How Atlas stands a chance in meeting these target objectives is something that shall be keenly observed in the coming years.
