Boston Dynamics and Google DeepMind have formed a new partnership aimed at integrating advanced artificial intelligence into humanoid robotics. Announced at CES 2026, the collaboration seeks to combine Boston Dynamics' expertise in dynamic robot hardware with Google DeepMind's foundational AI models.

Reported Goals of the Partnership

The stated objective is to bring a"new era of artificial intelligence" to humanoid robots, specifically by applying Google DeepMind's Gemini Robotics foundation models to Boston Dynamics' next-generation Atlas robots. The focus will be on enabling the humanoids to perform a wide variety of industrial tasks, beginning with applications in automotive manufacturing.

Context and Rationale

According to executives from both companies,the partnership is driven by recent AI advances that have accelerated robot training and deployment. Boston Dynamics, known for its robots' physical agility, indicated it sought a partner to help develop new visual-language-action models for complex real-world applications. Google DeepMind framed its Gemini Robotics models as a platform designed to bring AI reasoning and interaction capabilities into the physical world.

Planned Activities

A joint research effort is expected to begin in the coming months,utilizing a new fleet of Atlas robots. The work will be conducted at both companies' facilities. The announcement was made during a media presentation by Hyundai Motor Group, which is the majority shareholder of Boston Dynamics.