By Kirsten Korosec
Publication Date: 2026-01-05 21:55:00
Robotics company Boston Dynamics announced Monday a strategic partnership with Google’s AI research lab to speed up the development of its next-generation humanoid robot Atlas — and make it act more human around people.
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.
“We’re looking to integrate our cutting-edge AI foundation models with Boston Dynamics’ new Atlas robots, and we’ll aim to develop the world’s most advanced robot foundation model to fulfill the promise of true general-purpose human needs,” Parada said on stage.
The tie-up comes less than a year after the Google AI research lab announced new AI models called Gemini Robotics that are designed to allow robots to perceive,…
