Boston Dynamics’s upcoming generation of humanoid robots will feature technology from Google DeepMind

Boston Dynamics and Google DeepMind Forge Partnership to Advance Humanoid Robotics

Boston Dynamics has revealed a new collaboration with Google’s AI division, aiming to accelerate the evolution of its latest humanoid robot, Atlas, and enhance its ability to interact naturally with humans.

This alliance, announced at Hyundai’s CES 2026 press event, focuses on integrating Google DeepMind’s advanced AI foundation models into robotics research. According to Carolina Parada, senior director of robotics at Google DeepMind, Atlas will serve as the initial platform for this innovative research.

“Our goal is to merge our state-of-the-art AI models with Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robots, striving to create the world’s most sophisticated robot foundation model that can truly address a wide range of human needs,” Parada stated during the announcement.

This partnership follows Google DeepMind’s recent introduction of Gemini Robotics, a suite of AI models designed to enable robots to perceive, reason, manipulate objects, and engage with people. Built on the powerful Gemini multimodal generative AI model, Gemini Robotics is engineered to generalize behaviors across various robotic systems.

Boston Dynamics, under the majority ownership of Hyundai Motor Group, brings significant real-world experience to the table. While the partnership is expected to drive research forward, both companies are also focused on scaling these advancements for practical deployment.

Boston Dynamics’ existing robots, such as the four-legged Spot, are already deployed in over 40 countries. Its warehouse automation robot, Stretch, has handled more than 20 million packages worldwide since its 2023 debut, according to Hyundai. Now, the company is preparing to usher in a new era with Atlas, which is already in production and set to be deployed at a Hyundai manufacturing facility.

During the press conference, a prototype of Atlas demonstrated its mobility on stage. However, as Alberto Rodriguez, director of Atlas behavior at Boston Dynamics, emphasized, transforming Atlas into a market-ready product requires more than just impressive physical abilities. For humanoid robots to fulfill their potential, they must be able to engage with people in a natural and intuitive manner.

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Rodriguez and the Boston Dynamics team are confident that the latest breakthroughs in artificial intelligence have paved the way for robots to achieve these advanced capabilities.