At CES 2026 in Las Vegas, Boston Dynamics officially unveiled a production-ready version of its humanoid robot, Atlas, and simultaneously announced a strategic partnership with Google DeepMind aimed at bringing advanced AI capabilities to its robotic systems.
The collaboration aims to combine DeepMind’s Gemini Robotics AI foundation models with Boston Dynamics’ new Atlas humanoids. According to Boston Dynamics, the partnership will focus on enabling humanoids to carry out a broad range of industrial tasks and is expected to serve as a key driver of manufacturing transformation, starting with the automotive sector.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with the Google DeepMind team,” said Alberto Rodriguez, Director of Robot Behavior at Boston Dynamics. “We are building the world’s most capable humanoid, and we knew we needed a partner that could help us establish new kinds of visual-language-action models for these complex robots. Nobody in the world is better suited than DeepMind to build reliable, scalable models that can be deployed safely and efficiently across a wide variety of tasks and industries.”
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Google DeepMind has been developing robot AI foundation models such as Gemini Robotics, which are built on the large-scale, multi-modal Gemini model. These systems are designed to allow robots of different shapes and sizes to perceive their surroundings, reason, use tools, and interact with humans.
“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,” said Carolina Parada, Senior Director of Robotics at Google DeepMind.
The fully electric Atlas was revealed during Hyundai Motor Group’s global CES media presentation. During the demonstration, Atlas walked across the stage and waved to the audience, highlighting a fluid, natural-looking gait. The robot is designed to learn quickly and adapt to changing environments, with the ability to operate autonomously and with minimal human oversight.
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Robert Playter, Boston Dynamics CEO, said in a press release, “…This is the best robot we have ever built… It marks the first step toward a long-term goal we have dreamed about since we were children — useful robots that can walk into our homes and help make our lives safer, more productive, and more fulfilling.”
Production of Atlas is already underway, with early customers including Google DeepMind and Hyundai’s Robotics Metaplant Application Center. Hyundai, which is the majority shareholder in Boston Dynamics, is also preparing to deploy tens of thousands of Boston Dynamics robots across its manufacturing operations.
Alongside the launch, Boston Dynamics also announced that Hyundai Mobis will supply actuators for Atlas, supporting the creation of a highly reliable component supply chain for actuator development and production.
The partnership represents a significant step toward merging Boston Dynamics’ well-known athletic robot capabilities with DeepMind’s cognitive AI, with the potential to reshape manufacturing and the wider robotics industry.
