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Hyundai Motor Group announced that it will deploy more than 25,000 humanoid robots in Hyundai and Kia factories starting in 2028. The humanoid robots are of the Atlas model, developed by the American subsidiary Boston Dynamics, and will begin operating in logistics and parts handling tasks at Metaplant America in Georgia. The company has created divisions dedicated to industrial automation and component production, with a goal of manufacturing more than 300,000 actuators per year in the United States. A humanoid robot training center will be built in partnership with Google DeepMind.
The race to place humanoid robots inside factories has truly begun, and Hyundai Motor Group is betting on scale. The South Korean automaker announced that it will deploy more than 25,000 humanoid robots of the Atlas model on its production lines starting in 2028, in an operation that involves Boston Dynamics, the creation of entire industrial divisions dedicated to manufacturing parts and components for the machines. The first Atlas humanoid robots are expected to start operating at Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America, in the U.S. state of Georgia, performing logistics and parts handling tasks before moving on to assembly activities starting in 2030.
To sustain large-scale humanoid robot production, Hyundai has created two new structures: a division to lead the “software-defined factory” project, a model in which industrial operations are controlled by artificial intelligence, and an office dedicated to purchasing components for the Atlas. The company plans to manufacture more than 300,000 actuators per year in the United States, parts that function as mechanical “joints” of the humanoid robots and represent a significant portion of the total manufacturing cost.
What the Atlas humanoid robots will do in factories
image: Boston Dynamics
The first phase of implementing humanoid robots focuses on logistics and parts handling, repetitive tasks that require physical strength and precision but do not involve complex decisions.
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The Atlas, presented by Boston Dynamics during CES 2026, has already demonstrated the ability to carry heavy objects and perform repetitive physical tasks in simulated environments that replicate real conditions of an assembly line.
According to information released by the portal VEJA, Hyundai’s expectation is to expand the functions of humanoid robots to assembly activities starting in 2030. This second phase will require robots with fine motor coordination and the ability to adapt to variations in the production process, skills that Boston Dynamics is developing with the support of artificial intelligence.
The transition from logistics to assembly is the leap that will determine whether humanoid robots become a standard tool or remain limited to auxiliary tasks.
The software-controlled factory
The concept of a “software-defined factory” that Hyundai has adopted involves factories capable of automating production processes, logistics, and quality control with artificial intelligence, sensors, and integrated systems. Executive Alpesh Patel, from Hyundai’s innovation center in Singapore, was chosen to lead the division that will turn this concept into reality in industrial units in different countries.
In practice, the software-controlled factory is the environment where humanoid robots will make the most sense. Instead of programming each machine individually for each task, the central AI system coordinates all humanoid robots simultaneously, redistributing functions in real-time as production demand changes. Hyundai intends to gradually expand this model to factories in South Korea and India.
The partnership with Google DeepMind to train humanoid robots
Hyundai is preparing a humanoid robot training center in the United States in partnership with Google DeepMind. The focus is to develop learning systems for industrial operations, allowing humanoid robots to learn new tasks without needing to be manually reprogrammed with each change in the production process.
Google DeepMind is a global reference in artificial intelligence and reinforcement learning, a technique that allows machines to learn through trial and error in simulated environments before applying the knowledge in the real world.
For Hyundai, the partnership is strategic because it accelerates the development of humanoid robots capable of operating in varied scenarios, from assembling a Hyundai in Georgia to the logistics of a Kia in South Korea.
What the bet of 25 thousand humanoid robots means for the industry
The planned annual production of 30 thousand humanoid robots and 300 thousand actuators places Hyundai among the companies that invest the most in industrial robotics based on artificial intelligence in the world. The scale of 25 thousand units operating in factories by 2028 is unprecedented in the automotive industry and could redefine what it means to assemble cars in the 21st century.
If the Atlas humanoid robots from Boston Dynamics work as planned, Hyundai will have proven that it is possible to operate production lines with thousands of humanoids working alongside humans, a model that other automakers will inevitably try to replicate.
The question that remains is whether factory workers will be complemented or replaced by machines, a debate that gains urgency with each new announcement like this one from Hyundai.
Did you know that Hyundai will deploy 25 thousand humanoid robots in factories starting in 2028? Do you think machines will complement or replace workers? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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