Boston Dynamics

Boston Dynamics and Hyundai unveil the production version of the all-electric Atlas at CES Las Vegas on January 5, 2026. Production starts immediately at Boston Dynamics' headquarters, with the entire 2026 run committed to Hyundai's RMAC and Google DeepMind. Hyundai pairs the launch with a $26B U.S. investment plan including a new robotics factory targeting 30,000 Atlas units/year by 2028, and Boston Dynamics signals an Atlas price target below two years of U.S. manufacturing payroll (~$320K).

On February 10, 2026 Boston Dynamics announces that founder and CEO Robert Playter will retire after roughly 30 years at the company, with his last day on February 27, 2026. CFO Amanda McMaster — at Boston Dynamics since February 2020 — steps in as interim CEO while the board runs a search for a permanent successor.

On April 8, 2026, the transition of Orbit AIVI-Learning to Google Gemini and Gemini Robotics ER 1.6 goes live for all enrolled Spot customers, delivering higher-order reasoning for industrial inspections including 5S audits, sight glass fullness readings, pallet counting, lever detection, and gauge reading.

On May 18, 2026 Boston Dynamics publishes a technical blog and two videos showing the production Atlas lifting and carrying a ~50 lb mini-fridge with shifting internal contents, and reports Atlas successfully handled 100+ lb test loads without retraining. The work uses GPU-parallel reinforcement learning in simulation with zero-shot sim-to-real transfer to deliver whole-body control without visual identification of the object.

In June 2026 Hyundai Motor Group moves to acquire SoftBank's remaining ~9.65% stake in Boston Dynamics for about $325 million — approved at a June 22 board meeting and exercising a put option from the original 2020 deal — making the company a wholly owned subsidiary of Hyundai and its affiliates. The buyout implies a valuation of roughly $3.4 billion, more than triple the ~$1.1 billion mark when Hyundai first took an 80% controlling stake, and lands as the all-electric Atlas ramps production for Hyundai facilities and Google DeepMind.

On June 24, 2026 Boston Dynamics announces a roughly $100 million expansion — reaffirmed in mid-July 2026 — leasing a 323,000-square-foot facility at Reservoir Place in Waltham, Massachusetts to build an advanced robotics and AI center. The project consolidates three nearby sites and is expected to create 1,250 new jobs by 2033 (roughly doubling its workforce), supported by a $25 million state Economic Development Incentive Program award, with phased move-in beginning mid-2027 — adding capacity as the all-electric Atlas humanoid scales into production and the company signals a new robot platform in development.

Boston Dynamics and Hyundai deploy four Spot quadruped robots to help secure the FIFA World Cup 2026 (June 11–July 19), a high-profile public-safety showcase for the platform. Two Spots patrol the International Broadcast Center in Dallas and two operate at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey — the venue for the final — conducting perimeter inspections, checking suspicious packages and hazardous materials, detecting threats, and alerting human agents who make the final decisions.

On July 5, 2026, an all-electric Atlas humanoid appeared in a live FIFA World Cup 2026 match environment for the first time — delivering the match ball to the head referee and performing goal celebrations at halftime of the Brazil vs. Norway Round of 16 game in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Run by Hyundai Motor as the tournament's official robotics partner, the showcase highlighted Atlas's retargeting, reinforcement-learning, and whole-body-control capabilities and was billed as the first integration of a humanoid robot into a live World Cup match.

Hyundai Motor Group says it plans to purchase tens of thousands of robots over the next few years, deepens manufacturing collaboration with Boston Dynamics, and highlights future Atlas deployment at its Georgia metaplant.

Retires the iconic hydraulic Atlas in April. Unveils the fully electric, commercially oriented Atlas the next day — a ground-up redesign for industrial deployment.

Spot becomes first commercially available robot at $74,500. Hyundai Motor Group agrees to acquire 80% stake for ~$880M, valuing the company at $1.1B.

Sold by Alphabet to SoftBank Group. Company rebrands as a commercial robotics company under new leadership with Robert Playter as CEO.

Atlas humanoid robot unveiled for the DARPA Robotics Challenge in July. Acquired by Google X (Alphabet) in December.

BigDog quadruped robot introduced, funded by DARPA as a military pack mule capable of carrying 340 lbs over rough terrain.

Marc Raibert founds Boston Dynamics as a spin-off from MIT's Leg Laboratory, initially focused on legged locomotion research and later joined by Robert Playter.