Hyundai to debut Atlas body actuator at CES 2027
Hyundai plans to unveil the body actuator behind Boston Dynamics' Atlas at CES 2027, as Hyundai Mobis starts building prototypes this month.
Hyundai Motor Group plans to unveil the body actuator that powers Boston Dynamics' Atlas humanoid at CES 2027 in Las Vegas this January. The actuator — the assembly of motor, reducer and controller that drives a robot's joints — is the muscle of the machine, and one of its most expensive parts.
Hyundai Mobis, the group's parts arm, starts prototype production of the actuator this month at its research center in Uiwang, south of Seoul. The company disclosed the plan alongside its third-quarter earnings on October 30, saying it will verify performance and reliability with its customer ahead of supply expected to begin in 2028. Each Atlas carries 31 of the actuators, and analysts expect Mobis to supply all of them.
The CES unveiling is aimed at buyers beyond the group. Securities analysts expect Mobis to show the actuator to external customers in Las Vegas and pitch it to other humanoid makers, including Tesla and Figure AI. The parts maker is also building up technology for robot hand grippers, perception modules and controllers, and plans a U.S. plant with annual capacity of 350,000 actuators by 2028.
The actuator debut lands as Hyundai prepares Atlas for factory work at scale. Boston Dynamics is reportedly preparing component orders for 10,000 Atlas units, and Hyundai plans a U.S. production system with annual capacity of 30,000 humanoids by 2028, with the first robots deployed at its Metaplant America in Georgia. The group's Robotics Meta Plant Application Center, which opened at the Georgia plant in September, is set to expand tenfold next year. Toyota, meanwhile, is expanding robot adoption across 60 factories worldwide from 2028 and has put Agility Robotics' Digit to work at its Woodstock, Ontario plant.
The signal for robotics watchers: CES 2027 is becoming a supply-chain show as much as a robot show. The parts that make humanoids move — actuators, grippers, sensors — are getting their own unveilings, and a car-parts giant is positioning itself to sell them to every humanoid maker, not just its own.