humanoid robots

China ships 78% of global humanoid robots in H1 2026

The global humanoid robot market saw explosive growth in the first half of 2026, with shipments approaching 25,000 units — a 432.1% increase from a year earlier — according to new data from IDC. Chinese manufacturers dominated the market, shipping…

Boston Dynamics opens center to train Atlas robots for Hyundai factories

Boston Dynamics on Monday launched its Robotics Metaplant Application Center at Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America outside Savannah, Georgia, creating a dedicated facility to train its Atlas humanoid robots for real-world automotive manufacturing.

Toyota plans 400,000 factory robots, $6.4B annual spend from 2028

Toyota has outlined plans to deploy around 400,000 robots across its global manufacturing network, with an estimated annual investment of roughly 1 trillion yen ($6.4 billion) starting in 2028, in what would be one of the auto industry's largest automation…

Tesla AI chief says Optimus robot moves are remote-controlled

Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla's Vice President of AI Software and head of the Optimus humanoid robot program, posted a candid assessment on X on Sunday acknowledging that the movements seen in Optimus demo videos are "essentially remote controlled."

Toyota plans 400,000 robots, $6.4B annual factory spend

Toyota Motor estimates it could spend 1 trillion yen ($6.4 billion) annually starting from 2028 to modernize its factories, as the world's largest automaker pushes ahead with one of the most ambitious robotics deployments in industrial history.

Tesla begins Optimus robot production audit in China

Tesla dispatched its robotics team to Ningbo, China, on September 16, kicking off a new round of production audits for the Optimus humanoid robot on September 17. The audit is focused on verifying exclusivity and consistency standards for mass production,…

China’s record-setting humanoid robot pivots to factory work

Two weeks after China's TianGong Ultra humanoid robot ran 100 meters in 8.64 seconds at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing — nearly a full second faster than Usain Bolt's 9.58-second human record — its engineers say the harder…

XPeng’s humanoid robot walks off production line, beating Tesla to manufacturing milestone

At a factory in Guangzhou, China, a humanoid robot assembled by machines walked off a production line on its own — a first for the emerging industry. XPeng announced on Monday that it had completed production-line manufacturing of its IRON…

Unitree claims first autonomous humanoid robot powered by real-time world model

Chinese robotics company Unitree Robotics on Monday demonstrated what it called the world's first fully autonomous humanoid robot powered by a real-time world model, releasing video of two robots sparring without any human control. The system, dubbed UnifoLM-X2-1.0, marks an…

China accelerates humanoid robot development for military combat, Reuters finds

China's defense establishment is accelerating research into humanoid robots for military use, with institutions testing the machines against battlefield requirements and planning for their eventual wartime deployment, according to a Reuters investigation published Sunday.

Altman says OpenAI is building a humanoid robot

OpenAI has confirmed it is building its own humanoid robot, with CEO Sam Altman declaring on the Sources podcast that the company "will definitely do a humanoid" and expressing his belief that everyone should eventually own a personal robot. The…

Nscale signs $3.5B deal to power Figure’s humanoid robots

AI cloud infrastructure provider Nscale announced on Thursday a multi-year strategic partnership with humanoid robotics company Figure, committing an initial $3.5 billion in compute capacity with the intent to scale the arrangement to more than $6 billion. Nscale will also…

Musk predicts 1 billion humanoid robots in a decade

Elon Musk told a gathering of global technology leaders on Tuesday that the world will have at least one billion humanoid robots within a decade, each producing five times the output of a human worker, in remarks that underscored his…

Goldman Sachs quadruples humanoid robot forecast to $138B

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has dramatically raised its projections for the humanoid robot market, now forecasting 6.5 million units shipped annually by 2035 and a corresponding market size of $138 billion, according to an 80-page "Physical AI"…

Humanoid robots smash Bolt’s sprint record at Beijing games

The second World Humanoid Robot Games wrapped up this week in Beijing after five days of competition that saw humanoid robots shatter human athletic records, including Usain Bolt's 100-meter sprint mark, while also catching fire, losing limbs, and crashing into…

China builds 95% of humanoid robots but they’re too slow for real work

More than 100 humanoid robots stand in neat rows inside a training center in Liuzhou, southern China, guided through simple tasks by human trainers wearing headsets. The machines are slow and awkward — a novice trainer might coax one usable…

Robot runs 100m in 8.64 seconds at Beijing games

A Chinese humanoid robot sprinted 100 meters in 8.64 seconds on Wednesday, nearly a full second faster than Usain Bolt's human world record, closing out five days of competition at what has been dubbed the "Robot Olympics" in Beijing.

Hyundai eyes selling Boston Dynamics robots at dealerships

Hyundai Motor CEO José Muñoz said the automaker's existing dealer network could become a retail channel for humanoid and dog-like robots, outlining the idea during the company's 2026 CEO Investor Day in Seoul on Wednesday.

China’s Tiangong Ultra robot runs 100m in 8.86 seconds

China's Tiangong Ultra humanoid robot ran 100 meters in 8.86 seconds during a semifinal at the 2nd World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing on Tuesday, smashing its own opening-day record of 9.39 seconds and widening the gap over the 9.58-second…

Humanoid robots beat Bolt’s 100m record at Beijing games

Chinese humanoid robots shattered multiple human world records, including Usain Bolt's 100-meter sprint mark, on the opening day of the second World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing on Saturday, in a dramatic showcase of the country's accelerating robotics ambitions.

Chinese robot beats Usain Bolt’s 100m record, state media says

A humanoid robot developed by Chinese smartphone maker Honor ran 100 meters in 9.32 seconds on Saturday, shattering the human world record held by Jamaican sprinting legend Usain Bolt, according to China's state broadcaster CCTV.

China claims 97% of global humanoid robot shipments

The 2026 World Robot Conference opened this week in Beijing with more than 300 exhibitors displaying upwards of 2,000 exhibits and launching over 150 new products, underscoring China's commanding position in the global humanoid robotics market. An industry report released…

Unitree founder says robots’ ‘ChatGPT moment’ could be a decade away

Unitree Robotics founder Wang Xingxing declared Thursday that humanoid robots are "marching towards a 'ChatGPT moment' in embodied intelligence," even as he tempered expectations by warning the breakthrough could still be a decade away.

Humanoid robot shipments nearly triple in first half of 2026

Global humanoid robot shipments topped 22,000 units in the first half of 2026, rising nearly 300% year-on-year, as the industry reaches what researchers call a critical stage for large-scale commercial deployment, according to a report published Wednesday by Counterpoint Research.

Unitree soars in Shanghai debut as Europe sounds alarm on robotics gap

Germany's VDMA engineering association called on Wednesday for humanoid robotics and physical AI to be placed at the top of the political agenda in Germany and Europe, warning that a global race for leadership in the sector has begun —…

Unitree Robotics surges 460% in Shanghai debut

China's best-known humanoid robot maker, Unitree Robotics, exploded onto public markets Wednesday with shares surging as much as 629% on the Shanghai STAR Market, marking the largest first-day gain for a new listing in China this year and the first…

China opens World Robot Conference amid tech rivalry with U.S.

The 2026 World Robot Conference opened on Wednesday in Beijing, bringing together more than 300 companies and over 2,000 robotic exhibits in what has become one of the world's largest showcases of automation technology. The five-day event, running through August…

LG and Nvidia sign deal on humanoid robots, AI factories

LG Corp and Nvidia signed a memorandum of understanding on August 13 at Nvidia's headquarters in Santa Clara, California, formalizing plans to collaborate on humanoid robotics, AI factory infrastructure, and autonomous vehicle technology. LG Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and Nvidia CEO…

Unitree’s $904M robot IPO draws 8,000x oversubscription

Chinese humanoid robot maker Unitree Robotics has priced its Shanghai Stock Exchange initial public offering at 150.80 yuan per share, seeking to raise 6.1 billion yuan (approximately $904 million) in a deal that makes it the first mainland-listed humanoid robot…

China holds 97% of humanoid robot shipments, report says

Chinese manufacturers commanded more than 97% of global humanoid robot shipments in the first half of 2026, according to new data from California-based research firm Smart Analytics Global, underscoring the country's overwhelming dominance in a sector projected to reshape global…