Humanoid robot competition heats up: Hyundai releases the latest version of the robot to be put into use in 2028

The Zhitong Finance App learned that Boston Dynamics, a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company, has released the latest version of its humanoid robot. The robot is scheduled to be put into use at Hyundai's manufacturing plants starting in 2028, including the plant in Savannah, Georgia.

The Seoul-based manufacturer said in a statement at CES in Las Vegas that it initially plans to deploy its latest Atlas robot to handle highly repetitive tasks, such as arranging components in a vehicle assembly sequence, and plans to apply it to more complex assembly tasks by 2030.

According to the statement, the Atlas humanoid robot is equipped with a human-sized robot with tactile sensing and fully rotatable joints, can lift weights of up to 110 pounds (about 50 kg), and can operate in temperatures as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius and as high as 40 degrees Celsius.

Hyundai Motor's stock price once surged 8.4% to a record high during early trading in Seoul on Tuesday.

Hyundai plans to mass-produce up to 30,000 robots a year at its new plant in the US, which is one of its broad initiatives to integrate artificial intelligence and robotics technology. Earlier, Executive Chairman Chung Euisun said in his New Year address that the company needs to embrace cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology to avoid falling behind competitors.

The automotive industry has been at the forefront of automating more assembly line processes to reduce labor costs and enhance worker safety. With artificial intelligence, automakers see opportunities to unlock new revenue streams and improve the drivers' in-car experience through innovations such as hands-free operation.

Chinese electric car manufacturer Xiaopeng Motor showcased its humanoid robot last year and spurred stock prices to soar. Tesla is developing its Optimus robot, which Elon Musk says has the potential to become “the biggest product ever made” and will eventually account for 80% of Tesla's value. Toyota Motor Corporation also has advanced robotics projects and is collaborating with Hyundai in 2024 to accelerate the development of humanoid robots using AI.

Robots have long been used for simple tasks such as welding and logistics, but the company is now seeking technological breakthroughs to allow robots to master more complex tasks. The rapid development of artificial intelligence is driving optimistic investment in this field. Goldman Sachs Group predicts that the humanoid robot market will reach 38 billion US dollars by 2035, while Morgan Stanley expects the field to reach 5 trillion US dollars by 2050 — more than 1 billion humanoid robots may be put into use by then.

Hyundai Motor said, “It is expected that humanoid robots will become the largest segment of the physical AI market in the future, and we have set the goal of large-scale mass production of Atlas product models and deploy them on a large scale as production-ready humanoid robots to various industrial sites.”

The automaker launched a robotics lab in 2019 and bought Boston Dynamics two years later — the company achieved commercial success with a robot dog called Spot and Stretch, a mobile robotic arm used for warehouse replenishment. The South Korean company plans to invest 125 trillion won ($86 billion) in Korea over the next five years for artificial intelligence, robotics, and other new technologies, and an additional $26 billion in the US by 2028.

The company also plans to strengthen its strategic partnership with Nvidia to use the chip giant's technology to accelerate innovation and improve efficiency. The two companies signed an agreement in October to establish a $3 billion physical AI cluster in South Korea.