How Hyundai’s humanoid robots stole the spotlight at CES
2026.01.15 15:05
A decadelong bet by Chair Chung Euisun turns robotics vision into reality
| Visitors crowd around a demonstration of Boston Dynamics' Atlas humanoid at last week's CES 2026 tech show in Las Vegas. (Hyundai Motor Group) |
Few expected a legacy automaker to dominate the conversation at one of the world’s largest tech shows. Yet at CES 2026, Hyundai Motor Group turned humanoid robots into one of the event’s defining buzzwords.
Over four days in Las Vegas, more than 20,500 visitors — up 28 percent from two years earlier — queued to see Hyundai’s expanding robotics lineup, from the four-legged Spot robot and the MobED mobility platform to the headline-grabbing Atlas humanoid.
Beyond the CES theatrics
Among the 38 companies listed in the humanoid robotics category at CES, Hyundai’s Atlas — developed with its US-based subsidiary Boston Dynamics — stood out as one of the few systems positioned for “near-term deployment.”
Atlas’ demonstration of car parts sequencing, sorting and arranging vehicle components may have appeared modest at first when compared with its rivals. China-based Unitree Robotics showcased its 127-centimeter humanoid G1 in a spectacle-heavy display encompassing everything from complex dance routines to flying sidekicks and standing backflips.
Yet for many of these scene-stealing humanoids, the question remained: how much of the performance could translate into meaningful industrial or commercial use?
According to Han Jae-kwon, a professor of robotics engineering at Hanyang University and chief technology officer of AeiROBOT, which also participated in CES as a startup, one of Atlas’ key strengths was its clear sense of purpose.
“Hyundai Motor effectively demonstrated its identity as a manufacturer,” Han said. “By grounding humanoid robotics in real factories and production sites, the company showed how the technology could be deployed in practical, real-world use cases.”
That message appeared to resonate with global media at CES, with Atlas named Best Robot by CNET, an official CES media partner. CNET noted that Atlas stood out among the many humanoid robots on display for its naturalistic walking gait and its readiness for deployment in Hyundai’s manufacturing facilities.
Another major factor behind the hype was Hyundai’s unexpected partnership with Google DeepMind to train “general-purpose” humanoid robots capable of operating across diverse working environments, including automotive assembly lines.
“Hardware can only go so far in humanoid robotics. For humanoids to succeed, AI is critical, and Hyundai has positioned physical AI at the center of its strategy,” said Han.
A decadelong bet
Hyundai Motor’s robotics push dates back more than a decade but gained real momentum in 2018, after Executive Chair Chung Euisun designated robotics as one of the company’s five core growth engines.
That decision predated Hyundai’s so-called “flying cars,” or Advanced Air Mobility, vision unveiled in 2020 — underscoring how early the group committed to robotics.
After establishing an in-house Robotics Lab in 2019, Hyundai completed the acquisition of Boston Dynamics the following year, investing $880 million to secure an 80 percent stake. Chung personally contributed about 240 billion won ($163 million), lifting Hyundai’s ownership from 60 percent to 80 percent.
The deal marked the first major acquisition under Chung’s leadership, making Hyundai the first global automaker to own a humanoid robotics company. Earlier deals, including Fiat’s purchase of Comau and General Motors’ acquisition of Westinghouse, were limited to manufacturing robots and automation for vehicle production.
“Chung’s vision was clear,” said an industry source on condition of anonymity. “Rather than building a humanoid from scratch, he took a more efficient approach by acquiring Boston Dynamics and transforming Atlas (first unveiled in 2013) from a research marvel into a deployment-ready robot through coordination with Hyundai Robotics Lab.”
Supply chain edge over Tesla
Chung’s humanoid ambitions — part of his broader push to build an annual capacity of 30,000 robots in the US by 2028 — are expected to gain a significant boost from Hyundai’s extensive manufacturing supply chain. A key contributor is Hyundai Mobis, which will supply actuators, components that convert energy into physical motion, to Boston Dynamics.
As Chung plans to deploy Atlas humanoids at Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America in Georgia by 2028, Hyundai Mobis is also considering actuator production near the site to improve efficiency. The company already operates its largest global production facility for battery systems and vehicle modules at HMGMA.
Hyundai’s robotics expansion in the US was first revealed last August, initially seen as a countermeasure to rising automotive tariffs in Washington. But beyond trade considerations, the US offers a natural starting point as the world’s most advanced humanoid market and home to industry leaders such as Tesla.
Tesla has effectively pioneered the US humanoid robot market, aiming to drive down production costs by applying the vertically integrated manufacturing approach it uses for EV drive units to robot components, optimized for mass scale. That strategy, however, is being tested by fundamental constraints across the humanoid robot supply chain.
Speaking at the US tech forum All-In Summit last September, Elon Musk said Tesla’s humanoid robot Optimus has faced late-stage design hurdles due to a lack of suitable actuators, forcing the company to develop key components from scratch — a challenge he said was harder than building the Cybertruck or Model X. Musk later warned during the company’s third-quarter earnings call that scaling Optimus to millions of units would be unprecedented, as no established humanoid robot supply chain yet exists.
By contrast, Hyundai benefits from Korea’s well-established manufacturing ecosystem, according to Han.
“Hyundai has a structural edge over Tesla,” he said. “With a dense domestic supplier network, Hyundai can develop and source scalable, cost-efficient components in Korea, even while working with Boston Dynamics on Atlas, making its robotics strategy more viable for mass production and near-term industrial deployment.”
| Boston Dynamics’ electric Atlas humanoid (left) and four-legged robot Spot won the best robot awards at CES 2026. (Hyundai Motor Group) |
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