Insider Brief
- Boston Dynamics has formed an artificial-intelligence partnership with Google DeepMind to integrate Gemini Robotics foundation models into its latest Atlas humanoid, aiming to accelerate progress toward commercially viable humanoid robots.
- The collaboration will focus on expanding the range of industrial tasks humanoids can perform reliably, with early emphasis on manufacturing and automotive applications, and joint research work expected to begin in the coming months.
- Boston Dynamics will retain responsibility for hardware, locomotion, and system integration, while DeepMind contributes perception, reasoning, and visual-language-action models intended to improve adaptability, safety, and scalability across real-world industrial environments.
Boston Dynamics said it has entered a new artificial-intelligence partnership with Google DeepMind aimed at accelerating the development of commercially viable humanoid robots. The collaboration centers on integrating DeepMind’s Gemini Robotics foundation models with Boston Dynamics’ latest generation of the Atlas humanoid.
Boston Dynamics has also unveiled the latest version of its fully electric Atlas humanoid at CES 2026 and said it will begin manufacturing immediately, with all 2026 deployments already committed. According to the company, fleets are scheduled to ship to Hyundai Motor Group and Google DeepMind, with Atlas to be trained using new AI foundation models for a broad range of industrial tasks starting in automotive manufacturing..
“We are thrilled to be partnering with the Google DeepMind team,” Alberto Rodriguez, Director of Robot Behavior for Atlas at Boston Dynamics, said in a statement. “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.”
Boston Dynamics has long been known for its expertise in dynamic mobility and control, but only formally committed to developing a commercial humanoid robot in 2024. The company indicated recent progress in AI training methods and foundation models changed the economics and feasibility of deploying humanoids beyond controlled demonstrations.
“We developed our Gemini Robotics models to bring AI into the physical world,” Google DeepMind’s Senior Director of Robotics Carolina Parada said in a statement. “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.”
Google DeepMind’s contribution centers on Gemini Robotics, a family of AI models derived from its multimodal Gemini system. These models are designed to support perception, reasoning, and action across a range of robotic form factors. Boston Dynamics said the collaboration will focus on visual-language-action capabilities, enabling Atlas to understand instructions, interpret complex environments, and execute tasks that require adaptability rather than pre-scripted motion.
Boston Dynamics framed the partnership as complementary rather than overlapping. The company retains responsibility for hardware, locomotion, and system integration, while DeepMind contributes model development and training techniques intended to generalize across tasks. The stated goal is to make humanoid robots more scalable and safer to deploy across varied industrial workflows, rather than tailoring systems to narrowly defined use cases.
The announcement was made during a CES 2026 media presentation hosted by Hyundai Motor Group, which is the majority shareholder of Boston Dynamics.
