Our robotic future

In early 2026, Boston Dynamics’ humanoid robot Atlas left the dance floor for the factory floor, with its first industrial deployments slated for majority-owner Hyundai’s new auto plant in Georgia. “The world is built around humans,” says Nik Noel, VP of marketing and communications, and Atlas is designed to work in real-world spaces, with fully rotational joints that let it move in ways people cannot. In January, Boston Dynamics and Google DeepMind announced a partnership to bring Gemini Robotics’ foundation AI models to Atlas, giving the robot better perception, reasoning, and tool use. Meanwhile, warehouse robot Stretch scored a major commercial win when logistics giant DHL signed on for more than 1,000 additional units, and robot dog Spot, which is in use in hundreds of factories, foundries, and other industrial facilities, continues to experiment with pilots in hazardous inspection and explosive-ordnance scenarios. Soon, Spot robots will begin park inspections and other monitoring tasks in the UAE. At a time when robotics companies are under pressure over safety, surveillance, and weaponization, Boston Dynamics maintains that it will not weaponize its robots and that their use must comply with privacy and civil-rights laws. —Alison Van Houten

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