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Robotics Hyundai Motor Group Announces AI Robotics Strategy to Lead Human-Centered Robotics Era at CES 2026
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Robotics Hyundai Motor Group Announces AI Robotics Strategy to Lead Human-Centered Robotics Era at CES 2026
Robotics Hyundai Motor Group Announces AI Robotics Strategy to Lead Human-Centered Robotics Era at CES 2026
Robotics Hyundai Motor Group Announces AI Robotics Strategy to Lead Human-Centered Robotics Era at CES 2026
Robotics Hyundai Motor Group Announces AI Robotics Strategy to Lead Human-Centered Robotics Era at CES 2026
Robotics Hyundai Motor Group Announces AI Robotics Strategy to Lead Human-Centered Robotics Era at CES 2026
Robotics Hyundai Motor Group Announces AI Robotics Strategy to Lead Human-Centered Robotics Era at CES 2026
Robotics Hyundai Motor Group Announces AI Robotics Strategy to Lead Human-Centered Robotics Era at CES 2026
Robotics Hyundai Motor Group Announces AI Robotics Strategy to Lead Human-Centered Robotics Era at CES 2026
Robotics Hyundai Motor Group Announces AI Robotics Strategy to Lead Human-Centered Robotics Era at CES 2026
Robotics Hyundai Motor Group Announces AI Robotics Strategy to Lead Human-Centered Robotics Era at CES 2026
Robotics Hyundai Motor Group Announces AI Robotics Strategy to Lead Human-Centered Robotics Era at CES 2026
Robotics Hyundai Motor Group Announces AI Robotics Strategy to Lead Human-Centered Robotics Era at CES 2026
Robotics Hyundai Motor Group Announces AI Robotics Strategy to Lead Human-Centered Robotics Era at CES 2026
Robotics Hyundai Motor Group Announces AI Robotics Strategy to Lead Human-Centered Robotics Era at CES 2026
Hyundai Motor Group Announces AI Robotics Strategy to Lead Human-Centered Robotics Era at CES 2026
SEOUL/LAS VEGAS, January 5, 2026 – Hyundai Motor Group (the Group) today unveiled its transformative AI Robotics Strategy at the Consumer Electronics Show 2026 (CES 2026), presenting a bold roadmap for advancing human-robot collaboration under the theme ‘Partnering Human Progress’.
This year’s theme builds on its CES 2022 theme, ‘Expanding Human Reach’, evolving hardware-driven robotics into adaptive, artificial intelligence-driven robots designed to amplify human potential. At the heart of this progression is the Group’s human-centered AI Robotics, created to assist and collaborate with individuals.
To achieve this goal, the Group’s AI Robotics Strategy is underpinned by three foundational partnerships to drive progress and unlock entirely new possibilities for industry and society:
1. Partnering humans with co-working robots: Robots designed to assist and collaborate with people starting from manufacturing environments, performing hazardous and dangerous, as well as repetitive tasks.
2. Partnering the Group Value Network with Boston Dynamics: Combining Boston Dynamics’ expertise in AI Robotics with Hyundai Motor Group’s global scale and manufacturing capabilities to create safe training grounds and an End-to-End (E2E) AI Robotics value chain.
3. Partnering with AI leaders: Collaborating with global AI pioneers to open new chapters in AI Robotics innovation and drive the vision of ‘Progress for Humanity’.
Based on this strategy, Hyundai Motor Group plans to position itself as a human-centric leader in the Physical AI industry by leveraging its Group-wide value chain and extensive product portfolio. Physical AI refers to the tangible realization of technologies that collect data using hardware in real-world environments to make autonomous decisions — spanning areas such as robotics, smart factories, and autonomous driving.
As the Group secures essential data for Physical AI implementation across the entire value chain — from manufacturing and logistics to sales — it will establish a cycle of continuous improvement by digitizing real-world data for AI learning, applying this to products. This approach will enable the expansion of industries from mobility to robotics.
The Group will also promote the establishment of the Hyundai Motor Group Physical AI Application Center, which will play a key role in advancing the Physical AI ecosystem. In addition, the Group plans to build a robot manufacturing and foundry plant based on customized robotics technologies developed through Physical AI.
1. Partnering Humans with Co-Working Robots: Opening the Era of Human-Centered AI Robotics
Boston Dynamics has been a pioneer in pushing the boundaries of robotics for more than 30 years, inspiring millions of people worldwide with its innovations. Hyundai Motor Group has already demonstrated tangible results and scalability by deploying Boston Dynamics robots in industrial settings to enhance safety and improve efficiency.
Spot, the agile quadruped, is now operational in more than 40 countries, performing critical tasks such as data collection and safety monitoring in industrial sites. And Stretch®, the warehouse robot, has unloaded more than 20 million boxes globally since its launch in 2023, transforming warehouse automation by addressing labor-heavy tasks under extreme conditions.
By combining the Group’s manufacturing data, and proven manufacturing expertise and capabilities with Boston Dynamics’ world-class R&D leadership, the Group aims to establish a safe and collaborative relationship between humans and robots, starting with manufacturing environments.
What is Boston Dynamics Atlas Robot Designed For?
Unveiled at CES 2026, the Atlas humanoid robot presents a groundbreaking leap in robotics innovation designed for industrial applications. As a general-purpose humanoid, Atlas is built to integrate with existing facilities, ensuring the flexibility to adapt as business needs evolve while prioritizing safety, reliability, and predictability.
The Atlas prototype serves as a research model, testing core capabilities essential for future products. Equipped with advanced rotational joints and sensors, Atlas can navigate complex industrial environments, perform repetitive tasks, and leverage AI-driven learning to quickly adapt to new roles. Its mechanical design enables dynamic movement, ensuring it can operate in spaces traditionally suited to humans.
The Atlas product ushers in a new phase of industrial robotics. With 56 degrees of freedom (DoF), most with fully rotational joints, and human-scale hands with tactile sensing, Atlas is engineered to handle demanding tasks autonomously. It supports a range of applications, including material sequencing, assembly, and machine tending, while prioritizing safety, reliability, and collaboration in shared workspaces.
Atlas’s Industry-Defining Capabilities
Atlas offers a range of industry-defining capabilities, including:
Hyundai Motor Group expects humanoids to become the largest segment of the Physical AI market in the future and has set a goal to mass-produce the Atlas product model, deploying units at scale across industrial sites as production-ready humanoid robots.
To achieve this, the Group plans to integrate Atlas across its global network, including Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA) in Savannah, Georgia, enabling it to perform real-world tasks on-site.
The Group will gradually expand the deployment of Atlas robots through process-by-process validation. Beginning in 2028, Atlas will be introduced on processes with proven safety and quality benefits, such as parts sequencing. By 2030, applications will extend to component assembly, and over time, Atlas will also take on tasks involving repetitive motions, heavy loads, and other complex operations — ensuring safer working environments for factory employees. As its performance is validated, the Group aims to progressively scale adoption across entire production sites.
This partnership exemplifies the Group’s vision for ‘human-centered automation’, where people maintain full control while fostering a harmonious collaboration between humans and robots. Robots will handle labor-intensive or high-risk tasks, allowing human workers to focus on training the robots and providing oversight.
In the long term, AI Robotics will naturally integrate into everyday life, generating new value and enriching human experiences. This approach establishes a foundation for large-scale robot commercialization and creates a future where humans and robots coexist and collaborate seamlessly.
2. Partnering the Group Value Network with Boston Dynamics: Leading AI Robotics Commercialization
Hyundai Motor Group is building a Group Value Network – the Group’s central AI Robotics Strategy leveraging Group capabilities.
At the core of the Group Value Network is an End-to-End (E2E) AI Robotics Value Chain, leveraging the Group’s world-class automotive production infrastructure, know-how for safety and reliability, and the diverse technological capabilities of its affiliates. This approach enables the advancement of AI Robotics capabilities, accelerates mass production, and expands service applications – forming a core strategy for the Group to lead the Physical AI era.
Within this framework, Atlas robots will first undergo extensive training using the Group’s manufacturing environment to ensure safe readiness for real-world applications. By seamlessly integrating capabilities in robotics, components, logistics, and software, the Group adds global scale and tangible value. This cohesive approach accelerates robot development and deployment, enhances customer services, and delivers superior ROI, further solidifying the Group’s leadership in the AI Robotics sector.
Detailed Information on the Group Value Network:
The Group Value Network enables the advancement of AI Robotics capabilities, faster scaling of production, and expansion of services.
1) Accelerating Robot Capabilities: Utilizing Data-Driven Manufacturing Facilities
2) Accelerating Commercialization of AI Robotics: Utilizing Manufacturing Expertise and Infrastructure
In addition, the Group has a unique advantage in extending its electrification value chain and leveraging its supply chain capabilities, as well as applying AI-based software from Software-Defined Vehicles (SDVs) to robots and other Physical AI products.
By 2028, the Group aims to establish a scalable production system capable of manufacturing 30,000 robot units annually. Within the Group Value Network, the product version of Atlas surpasses any other enterprise-grade humanoid, underscoring the Group's commitment to scaling Atlas for broader industrial and commercial markets.
3) Expanding Integrated Customer Management Services Through Increased Investments and Diversifying into New Industries
3. Partnering with leaders in AI: Opening A New Chapter in AI Robotics Innovation
Expanding beyond the Group Value Network, Boston Dynamics has announced a strategic partnership with Google DeepMind to accelerate technological development for next-generation humanoid robots.
This collaboration will integrate Boston Dynamic’s leadership in robotics with Google DeepMind’s cutting-edge robot AI foundation models, driving the development of breakthrough technologies.
Boston Dynamics is a global leader and pioneer in robotics and brings world-class expertise in this industry.
Google DeepMind is one of the leading frontier labs and in recent years has been advancing its robot AI foundation models – including Gemini Robotics – built on the powerful large-scale multimodal generative AI model, Gemini. Its models are designed to allow robots of any shape and size to perceive, reason, use tools, and interact with humans.
Boston Dynamics and Google DeepMind will usher in a new era of robotics research by integrating cutting-edge robotics with advanced AI technologies. This strategic partnership is set to become a driving force in transforming the future of the mobility industry.
Together, the two partners aim to accelerate research on AI models to control complex robots
for high-impact tasks, and to scale robot adoptions safely and efficiently.
“The convergence of robotics and AI represents more than a technological advancement. It is a transformative innovation that will make human life safer and more enriching. By combining capabilities of Boston Dynamics and Google DeepMind through this strategic partnership, we are taking a significant step toward redefining the future paradigm of the industry.” – Zachary Jackowski, Vice President and General Manager of Atlas at Boston Dynamics.
“We are excited to begin working with the Boston Dynamics team to explore what’s possible with their new Atlas robot as we develop new models to expand the impact of robotics, and to scale robots safely and efficiently.” – Carolina Parada, Senior Director of Robotics at Google DeepMind.
What Interactive AI Robotics Experiences Are on Display at Hyundai Motor Group’s CES 2026 Exhibition Booth?
From January 6–9, 2026 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, visitors to Hyundai Motor Group’s booth can explore the capabilities of its cutting-edge AI Robotics through live demonstrations and immersive exhibits showcasing AI Robotics in everyday life and industrial applications.
These include Boston Dynamics’ Spot, Stretch and Atlas; Hyundai Motor Group Robotics LAB’s
X-ble Shoulder, ACR (Automatic Charging Robot), and MobED (Mobile Eccentric Droid), which won the CES 2026 Best of Innovation Award; Motional’s IONIQ 5 Robotaxi; and Hyundai WIA’s AMR (Autonomous Mobile Robot), Cobot (Collaborative Robot), and Parking Robot.
Exhibition Highlights:
Hyundai Motor Group unveiled its official brand video for CES 2026 under the theme ‘Partnering Human Progress’. The video showcases innovative human-centered AI Robotics technologies designed to assist and collaborate with people, which is available on Hyundai Motor Group’s official YouTube channel. Additional CES 2026 updates will continue to be shared through the Group’s official social media channels.
Seoyong Choi
seoyong.choi@hyundai.com
Global PR Strategy & Planning · Hyundai Motor Company
Disclaimer: Hyundai Motor Group believes the information contained herein to be accurate at the time of release. However, the company may upload new or updated information if required and assumes that it is not liable for the accuracy of any information interpreted and used by the reader.
About Hyundai Motor Group
Hyundai Motor Group is a global enterprise that has created a value chain based on mobility, steel, and construction, as well as logistics, finance, IT, and service. With about 250,000 employees worldwide, the Group’s mobility brands include Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis. Armed with creative thinking, cooperative communication and the will to take on any challenges, we strive to create a better future for all.
More information about Hyundai Motor and its products can be found at:
http://www.hyundaimotorgroup.com or Newsroom: Media Hub by Hyundai , Kia Global Media Center (kianewscenter.com) , Genesis Global Newsroom
About Boston Dynamics
oston Dynamics is the global leader in developing and deploying highly mobile robots capable of tackling the toughest industrial and safety challenges. Our robots are equipped with advanced mobility, dexterity and intelligence, enabling automation in unstructured or hard-to-traverse and unsafe spaces, from manufacturing facilities, power plants, and construction sites, as well as warehouses and distribution centers. We have three robots in our portfolio: Spot®, a quadruped that conducts industrial inspections for enterprise asset management and helps to keep people safe through public safety applications; Stretch®, a box-moving robot currently being deployed with logistics and retail customers; and Atlas®, our electric humanoid platform currently in development. For more information on our company and our technologies, please visit http://www.bostondynamics.com
