Atlas can already dance and perform acrobatics but, like other humanoids, it lacks the intelligence needed to understand its environment, make complex decisions, and manipulate unfamiliar objects with its hands. That could start to change with the addition of an advanced AI model like Gemini, though it remains unclear how robots will match the adaptability and subtlety of human manual dexterity.
The robot, with a glowing circle for a face and a fully electric, battery-powered body, is so advanced that it will soon be working alongside human factory workers for parent company Hyundai, the companies claimed. Hyundai said it plans on mass-producing Atlas as "production-ready humanoid robots" that will be put to work at the automaker's car plants, starting with the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant in Savannah, Georgia. The company estimates it will produce 30,000 robots annually starting in 2028.
The global market for humanoid robots could be worth as much as $9 trillion by 2050, with China expected to dominate demand and basic household models potentially entering homes within the next five years, according to new research. A report by Royal Bank of Canada estimates that humanoid robots could become a core part of everyday life over the coming decades, transforming labour markets and household routines.
But what would happen if such a technology were to land in the hands of terrorists and criminals, who aren't beholden to the norms of modern warfare at all? In a new report, pan-European police agency Europol's Innovation Lab has imagined a not-so-distant future in which criminals could hijack autonomous vehicles, drones, and humanoid robots to sow chaos - and how law enforcement will have to step up as a result.
It's no longer science fiction, it's non-fiction and it's on display here in the Bay Area during the second annual Humanoids Summit in Mountain View. What started as an independent event last year, has grown to an international conference. Founder Modar Alaoui says it's bigger, better and with even more robots on display. "The entire ecosystem is moving at a very fast and rapid rate - in the data space, in the tele-op space," Alaoui said. "There's new categories, also, in the home."
"What looks hard is easy, but what looks easy is really hard," Stephanie Zhan, a partner at Sequoia Capital, explained, paraphrasing an observation from computer scientist Hans Moravec. In the late Eighties, Moravec and other computer scientists noted that it was easier for computers to perform well on tests of intelligence, yet failed at tasks that even young children could do.
In a video posted to Instagram, EngineAI CEO Zhao Tongyang geared up in leg, stomach, and head pads. Workers taunted him, asking if he was nervous. The company's T800 robot then appeared to kick Tongyang in the stomach, and he can be seen falling to the ground. "Too violent!" Tongyang said in a translation. "Too brutal!" The video featuring its CEO came after EngineAI posted a separate video of its humanoid robot doing kicks and flips.
After all, plenty of industrial robots use wheels to roll around a warehouse, or feature one large, strong, and multi-pivoting arm instead of relying onseveral weaker ones. Besides, the existing crop of humanoid robots is capable of a lot more than walking around and waving their hands. Look no further than a video shared by robot tinkerer and researcher Logan Olson last month, which shows how a humanoid robot can turn itself into a surprisingly creepy crawling machine while using the full extent of its four limbs' freedom of movement.
"Do you see this as, that you'd be selling these to SFPD?" Benioff said. "And saying look, you're down 500 or 1,000. I can offer you robots to do some of these jobs, even if they're not armed or not militaristic. Is that a role that you see them playing in cities?"
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has bet his EV maker on selling millions of humanoid robots, prognosticating earlier this month that the initiative could eventually make up a whopping 80 percent of Tesla's value. He's promised that the company's Optimus robot could generate over $10 trillion in revenue in the long term, orders of magnitude more than the amount of money the carmaker made last year.
Dalio described a future where humanoid robots, smarter than humans, and advanced AI systems, powered by trillions of dollars in investment, could render many current professions obsolete. He questioned the need for lawyers, accountants, and medical professionals if highly intelligent robots with PhD-level knowledge become commonplace, stating, "we will not need a lot of those jobs." This technological leap, while promising "great advances," also carries the potential for "great conflicts."
Your estimates are about right. However, intelligent robots in humanoid form will far exceed the population of humans, as every person will want their own personal R2-D2 and C-3PO. And then there will be many robots in industry for every human to provide products & services.- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 24, 2025
