The idea of humanoid robots that can walk, talk and interact with people in everyday life has captured imaginations for decades. And today, several companies are stepping up their efforts to combine robotics with the latest advances in artificial intelligence (AI) to turn the science fiction dream into reality.
How do you know when you “robots are here”? Morgan Stanley Research predicts that 10% of American households may own a humidifier by 2050, with the device selling for an average price of $50,000. However, the first widely adopted humanoid robot may not be the robot housekeeper for the consumer market.
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Instead, the latest trends suggest that these humanoid robots may arrive in car factories first. If you believe that humanoid robots are almost here, you may want to buy Hyundai shares. Toyota(NYSE: TM )and Tesla(Nasdaq: TSLA).
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Korean automaker Hyundai made big headlines at CES 2026 with Atlas, a humanoid robot developed by its Boston Dynamics subsidiary. Atlas won the trade show award for best robot, and a CES voting panel praised its intuitive approach to movement and sleek design.
Hyundai says it plans to have the Atlas robot working at its car factory in Savannah, Georgia, by 2028, starting with simple processes like sorting parts. It then plans to increase its workload to more complex activities by 2030.
According to Hyundai, the Atlas robot is designed to be trained on most tasks in less than a day and can lift up to 110 pounds. It has advanced rotary joints, human-scale hands, and precise sensors that should make it a good fit for industrial environments. Since it announced its plans for the Atlas robot at CES, Hyundai stock has risen nearly 60 percent.
Hyundai may not be the only car company to benefit from the Atlas robot. Boston Dynamics has also partnered with Toyota in recent years. In August 2025, Toyota Research Institute and Boston Dynamics announced a new development in the use of large behavioral model (LBM) artificial intelligence to help the Atlas humanoid robot learn.
A video from Toyota and Boston Dynamics shows the Atlas robot in action. It can spin, bend and lift – and its hands are flexible and versatile allowing it to perform numerous tasks. Those found in a factory setting, such as gripping and opening, opening and organizing boxes, packing, and sorting items.
The robot can also adjust and adapt itself to changing conditions and unexpected challenges. This ability appears when a researcher interrupts their work by moving a box away or suddenly closing its lid. Here’s why this is such a huge advance in AI: The entire Atlas robot, including full-body movement and adaptation to interventions, was controlled by a single LBM.
Using LBM to control robots in this way can save significant time, compared to the traditional approach of programming each capability in a system individually. Toyota’s research could help robots add advanced skills to their repertoire.
Toyota has not announced specific plans Use these AI robots in its factories. But since it announced the Atlas Robot AI news on August 20, 2025, Toyota stock has risen nearly 20%.
Tesla is running on a humanoid robot. On its fourth-quarter earnings call in January, the company announced that it would end production of its Model X and Model S cars, and convert its Fremont, California, factory to making Optimus robots, with a goal of a production capacity of 1 million per year.
On the earnings call, CEO Elon Musk said Tesla will “probably unveil the Optimus 3 in a few months” and described it as an “incredibly capable robot” that will be a “general-purpose robot that can learn by observing human behavior.” Musk also said that in the long term, he believes “Optimus will have a very significant impact on US GDP.”
However, it’s too early to know how productive your factories will prove to be Optimum for Tesla. Musk said robots are doing some “basic work,” but “are not used in our factories in a material way.” He described the company’s use of Optimus as “very much in the early stages” and “still in R&D. [research and development] Step “
Tesla has high hopes for robotics. In September 2025, Musk predicted that eventually, about 80% of the company’s value would come from the Optimus business. However, in the days following Tesla’s fourth-quarter announcement, the stock has fallen nearly 7%.
The future of humanoid robotics is still uncertain. We don’t know how smart or profitable advanced AI robots will really be, but car companies could be their best early adopters.
Among these automotive stocks, Hyundai primarily trades on South Korean exchanges, making it difficult for U.S. investors to access. But if you believe in the future of humanoid robotics, you might want to Buy Tesla Shares Or Toyota.
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