Chinese company Agibot showed up with two: the human-sized A2 and the slightly smaller X2, both of which were displaying their surprisingly impressive dancing abilities.

Two-legged robots have a tendency to fall over and "need human intervention to get back up," like tortoises fallen on their backs. Because they're heavy and unstable, they are "currently unsafe for humans to be close to when they are walking."

Hyundai plans to manufacture 30,000 Atlas robots a year starting in 2028 at its high-tech Georgia auto factory.

With the age of humanoids upon us, Tesla CEO Elon Musk predicted that his robots will curb crime, eliminate poverty and do surgery.

Mobileye made its name, and money, by supplying automakers with millions of computer vision chips designed to support automotive safety features and later advanced driver assistance systems. The Intel subsidiary and publicly traded company later expanded to tackle autonomous driving through its chips and software.

While Tesla and Musk’s Optimus robot snatches airtime, China is making leaps in the humanoid race, leading to a rally in the sector’s shares. The Solactive China Humanoid Robotics Index rose 60 per cent from the start of last year to its peak in October,

At the 2026 CES technology show in Las Vegas, companies are debuting next-gen robots designed to cook, fold laundry and even interact with people in more human-like ways than ever.

The partnership, which was announced during the Hyundai press conference at CES 2026, is centered on robotics research that will use Google DeepMind’s AI foundation models. Boston Dynamics’ humanoid robot Atlas will be the first test case, according to Carolina Parada, senior director of robotics at Google DeepMind.