Hyundai and Boston Dynamics unveil Atlas, the rival robot to Tesla’s Optimus, at CES

The South Korean automaker has entered fully into the humanoid robot competition with Boston Dynamics, an American company owned by Hyundai, to lead the optimization of factories.

Atlas stole the show on the day before the official opening of CES 2026, demonstrating his ability to walk fluidly and turn his head with 360-degree vision on the stage of the Mandalay Bay Hotel’s Convention Center.

The humanoid robot, which will operate completely autonomously, lifts up to 50 kilograms and automatically replaces its own battery. In addition, it will be able to operate in temperatures ranging between -20 degrees Celsius and 40 degrees Celsius as well as in the rain.

Hyundai hopes to manufacture 30,000 units of robots a year by 2028, and build a factory in the United States with the capacity to produce thousands of units, as part of its plan to invest $26 billion in the country.

These plans position Hyundai as a direct rival to Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk, who are investing abundant resources in the development of Optimus, a humanoid robot with capabilities similar to Atlas.

Musk has even declared that Optimus will make Tesla the most valuable company on the planet and will solve serious social problems, such as the high cost of healthcare, although experts have questioned his claims.

Zachary Jackowski, from Boston Dynamics, highlighted that CES attendees will be the first to see the new humanoid robot prototype.

Hyundai also announced plans to deploy Atlas humanoid robots at its automotive plants around the world by 2030, including its plant in the state of Georgia, which was recently the target of an immigration raid by the Donald Trump administration.

The company said in a statement that it will integrate cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) robotics into all of its manufacturing plants globally and will subsequently expand into the logistics, energy, construction and facilities management sectors.

“In this way, we demonstrate how human-centered AI robotics can transcend the laboratory environment to become an integral part of everyday life,” the automaker stressed.

The company said that its leadership in humanoid robots lies in its “ability to apply and validate” these technologies on a large scale, backed by the largest manufacturing capabilities in the world, which is why it showed off its Spot, a dog-shaped robot that already works in its plants.

Hyundai also announced a new partnership with Google’s DeepMind, which will allow it to integrate its technology into robots developed by Boston Dynamics.