Boston Dynamics’ Atlas stands at a Hyundai plant in Georgia. Credit score: CBS Information
Final evening on 60 Minutes, Boston Dynamics Inc. demonstrated how synthetic intelligence is enabling its Atlas robotic to conduct duties at new manufacturing facility of father or mother firm Hyundai Motor Group close to Savannah, Ga.
The marketplace for humanoids might attain $38 billion by 2035, predicted Goldman Sachs. As a lot as $4.6 billion was invested in humanoid builders in 2025, reported Forbes.
CBS correspondent Invoice Whitaker visited the brand new plant and Boston Dynamics’ headquarters in Waltham, Mass. He noticed that whereas the firm is working towards superhuman capabilities, Atlas and different humanoids aren’t but on the level of mass deployment.
Boston Dynamics, whose Spot quadrupeds are already in industrial deployments for services upkeep, high quality inspection, and safety, is a pacesetter within the humanoid race. Whitaker famous that it faces stiff competitors, notably from quite a few startups with state funding in China.
“The Chinese language authorities has a mission to win the robotics race,” mentioned Robert Playter, CEO of Boston Dynamics. “Technically, I imagine we stay within the lead. However there’s an actual menace there that — merely by way of the dimensions of funding — we might fall behind.”
Hyundai acquired Boston Dynamics from SoftBank Group for $880 million in 2021 and mentioned in April 2025 that it plans to deploy tens of hundreds of its robots.
Boston Dynamics continues refining Atlas
When 60 Minutes visited Boston Dynamics in 2021, Atlas used hydraulics and was impressively agile for the time, however not but able to tremendous manipulation.
Since then, the corporate has launched an electrical model of the robotic (which gained a 2025 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award) and developed a three-fingered gripper with tactile sensing. Atlas can stand utilizing the complete rotational skills of its joints, which don’t have wires like different robots that would impede that vary of movement.
Relatively than have people program them with algorithms, Atlas and different AI robots be taught by way of teleoperation and simulation.
“If that teleoperator can carry out the duty that we would like the robotic to do, and do it a number of instances, that generates information that we are able to use to coach the robotic’s AI fashions to then later try this activity autonomously,” defined Scott Kuindersma, vice chairman of robotics analysis at Boston Dynamics (who was additionally a latest visitor on The Robotic Report Podcast).
Whitaker tried on a motion-capture go well with to show Atlas to do leaping jacks, stroll, and gesture as he did. The info from that session educated 4,000 digital robots in six hours. As well as, Boston Dynamics makes use of NVIDIA‘s AI processors and GR00T framework to assist its programs perceive the actual world.
When the 5 ft., 9 in. (1.75 m) tall and 200 lb. (90.7 kg) robotic fell whereas making an attempt to do a duck stroll, it revealed security issues round humanoids. Kuindersma famous, “We love when issues like this occur, really. As a result of it’s usually a possibility to grasp one thing we didn’t know in regards to the system.”
Spot demonstrated its dance strikes and an analogous studying course of on America’s Bought Expertise final yr.
Whereas no humanoid can but placed on garments or pour a cup of espresso and stroll with it, Kuindersma mentioned the trail towards such capabilities is now clear.
Hyundai plans to make use of and present extra robots
Hyundai’s new automotive plant in Georgia employs practically 1,500 individuals and makes use of greater than 1,000 industrial robots, however there may be nonetheless room for extra automation. 60 Minutes confirmed staff watching as Atlas practiced sorting roof racks with out human assist.
This was the primary time Atlas has been out of the laboratory doing actual work, Zack Jackowski, normal supervisor for Atlas at Boston Dynamics, advised Whitaker. Hyundai final April mentioned it plans to purchase “tens of hundreds” of robots from the corporate.
“I feel we’re on monitor in regards to the growth of Atlas. To date, it’s very profitable,” mentioned Heung-soo Kim, head of world technique on the South Korean producer. “It’s a sort of the beginning of nice journey.”
Playter acknowledged that the character of labor will change with humanoid robots, which ought to take over repetitive or harmful duties. They first need to be made dependable and inexpensive, he mentioned.
“However these robots aren’t so autonomous that they don’t should be managed,” famous Playter. “They should be constructed. They should be educated. They should be serviced.”
Hyundai plans to focus on its AI robotics technique and present Atlas publicly for the primary time at CES in Las Vegas right now, and The Robotic Report might be there to cowl it.
