Automakers Entering Humanoid Robotics

Car companies using their supply chains and self-driving know-how to build humanoid robots.

This describes automakers developing or investing in humanoid robots in-house. Examples include Tesla's Optimus, announced in 2021; XPeng's IRON, unveiled in 2024; Xiaomi's CyberOne from 2022; and Hyundai Motor Group, which took a controlling stake in Boston Dynamics in 2021. The logic behind automakers entering the field is that technology and supply chains carry over: motors, batteries, sensors, and chips are already things they procure, the perception and end-to-end modeling experience from self-driving teams transfers to robotics, and the mass-production management skills built for car plants apply too; at the same time, their own factories double as a ready-made testing ground, known as in-factory training. This trend is often discussed alongside the “T-chain” and the broader shift of self-driving talent into embodied AI.

ExampleXPeng unveiled its humanoid robot IRON in 2024, saying it shares an AI chip and some autonomous-driving capability with its smart cars.

Related

Tesla Optimus · XPeng IRON · Hyundai Motor Group · Autonomous-Driving Talent Moving into Embodied AI · Tesla (Optimus) Supply Chain · Factory Pilot Deployment

Sources

Optimus (robot) - Wikipedia
Boston Dynamics - Wikipedia

As of

2025-12