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Google DeepMind and Boston Dynamics to test Gemini-powered humanoids at Hyundai factories

Google's Gemini Robotics AI may help Boston Dynamics' humanoid understand the world around them.

3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jan 9, 2026 09:49 AM IST

Boston Dynamics’ Atlas humanoid robot will soon get a Gemini AI upgrade (Image Source: Boston Dynamics)

Google DeepMind, the tech giant’s AI research lab, is teaming up with Boston Dynamics to bring Gemini-powered humanoids to automaker Hyundai’s factory floors.

Announced at CES 2026, the partnership gives Boston Dynamics’ humanoid robots the capability to navigate unfamiliar areas and manipulate objects to do manual labour. As it turns out, we will see Google’s Gemini Robotics model used on humanoid robots like Atlas and the robot dog named Spot.

These AI-powered robots will be tested on auto maker Hyundai’s factory floors in the coming months, where they will attempt to complete various manufacturing tasks. While Atlas, Boston Dynamics’ humanoid robot, can dance and perform aerobatics, it still lacks contextual awareness and cannot make complex decisions or pick up objects with its hands.

In a statement to Wired, Boston Dynamics CEO Robert Playter said that “the real value going forward is for our robots to be contextually aware of their environment and able to use their hands to manipulate any object. And we think manufacturing environments, like in Hyundai factories, are a perfect place to deploy that today.”

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In the last few years, Boston Dynamics has been one of the pioneers when it comes to robotics, selling four-legged systems to the military to carry loads over rough terrain. Auto maker Hyundai also has a stake in the company. The announcement comes a few months after Google DeepMind unveiled AI models called Gemini Robotics that allow robots to see, reason, use tools and interact with humans and the world around them.

Boston Dynamics’ Atlas humanoid robot has 56 degrees of freedom with rotation joints and features human-sized hands with tactile sensing. It can lift up to 110 pounds and can easily perform motions that require repetition. The humanoid also comes with 360-degree cameras that let it see the world around it, but with Gemini, it might be able to understand its environment.

Hyundai is planning to start Atlas’ trials sometime this year and use them for things like part sequencing by 2028. The company is also opening a new facility in the US called a Robot Metaplant Application Center, where it will teach robots how to lift and turn things.

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