Boston Dynamics is training an AI-powered humanoid robot to do factory work

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Cassidy McDonald

January 4, 2026 / 7:42 PM EST / CBS News

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Boston Dynamics has established itself as a frontrunner in the field. With support from South Korean carmaker Hyundai, which owns an 88% stake in Boston Dynamics, the Massachusetts company is testing a new generation of its humanoid robot, Atlas.

This past October, a 5-foot-9-inch, 200-pound Atlas was put to the test at Hyundai's new Georgia factory, where it practiced autonomously sorting roof racks for the assembly line.

How Atlas is trained

When 60 Minutesvisited Boston Dynamics' headquarters in 2021, Atlas was a bulky, hydraulic robot that could run and jump. Back then, Atlas relied on algorithms written by engineers. The Atlas of today is sleeker, with an all-electric body and an AI brain powered byNvidia's advanced microchips, making it smart enough to master hard-to-believe feats.

Another teaching technique involves a motion capture body suit. 60 Minutes correspondent Bill Whitaker wore the suit while performing jumping jacks.

More than 4,000 digital Atlases trained for six hours in simulation. The simulation added challenges for the avatars — like slippery floors, inclines or stiff joints – and homed in on the best way for Atlas to perform the jumping jacks.

• How Boston Dynamics upgraded the Atlas robot - and what's next

Having learned from the same technique, Atlas demonstrated the ability to run, crawl, skip, and dance.

There are limitations, Kuindersma said. Atlas isn't proficient at performing most of the routine tasks that people do in their daily lives, like putting on clothes or pouring a cup of coffee.

"There are no humanoids that do that nearly as well as a person," Kuindersma said. "But I think the thing that's really exciting now is we see a pathway to get there."

The future of humanoids

Should humans be worried about humanoids?

Playter said it could be several years before Atlas becomes a full-time worker at Hyundai, but he predicted that humanoids will change the nature of work.

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Still, Playter said there's no reason to worry about a future like the one depicted in "The Terminator."