Key takeaways
- BMW says a Figure 02 humanoid supported production of more than 30,000 BMW X3 vehicles over ten months at its Spartanburg, South Carolina plant, and that Figure 03 will start a logistics sequencing task there.
- Agility Robotics announced on June 24 that it will go public through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) at a $2.5 billion valuation; as of an October 6 filing the deal had not closed.
- Boston Dynamics, now wholly owned by Hyundai, plans a gradual Atlas rollout beginning in Hyundai’s own auto plants, the Boston Globe reported.
- Morgan Stanley projected that Chinese firms will sell 50,000 humanoids this year, per the Globe. Most humanoid deployments remain pilots, and we found no independent count of units working in production.
Humanoid robots are moving from demonstration videos into paid pilots, and the past few months produced the first formal corporate documents that show how far that has gone. This report separates what companies and filings have actually stated from what remains forecast or promotional, using primary releases where we could read them in full.
Figure 02 and Figure 03 at BMW
In a June 25 press release, BMW Group said that after a pilot with Figure AI’s Figure 02 robot at Plant Spartanburg, the successor Figure 03 would begin work on a “sequencing” application in logistics. BMW said the Figure 02 robot supported production of more than 30,000 BMW X3 vehicles over ten months by inserting sheet-metal parts for the welding process in the body shop, and that the collaboration “demonstrated that humanoid robots can safely perform precise, repeatable work steps under real production conditions.” That is BMW’s own assessment.
The new task is different. Components arrive in larger containers, unsorted; Figure 03 is to pick them up and sort them into a sequencing trolley, which an automated tugger train or transport robot then carries toward the assembly line. BMW described humanoids as a complement to existing automation, with potential in “monotonous, ergonomically demanding, or safety-critical activities.” Figure AI’s founder and CEO, Brett Adcock, said the 11-month deployment “proved that humanoids are no longer lab experiments.” He listed Figure 03 features including soft components for safety, wireless charging, speech-to-speech audio and hands with tactile sensors and palm cameras. Neither company published throughput, cost or uptime figures in the release, so how the robot compares with conventional automation is not publicly documented.
Agility’s SPAC deal
Agility Robotics, which makes the Digit humanoid, said on June 24 it would merge with Churchill Capital Corp XI, a SPAC, in a deal valuing the company at $2.5 billion, according to the company’s announcement and to the Boston Globe and Wall Street Journal. The Globe reported the stock sale was expected to net $600 million for expansion and that Agility claims several customers, including Amazon and Toyota. The company’s materials, as summarized in search excerpts we reviewed, put the expected raise above $620 million including a roughly $200 million investment led by Foxconn, and cited more than $300 million in orders. A Churchill Capital filing dated October 6 shows the transaction is still proposed, with a closing targeted for the fourth quarter and a planned Nasdaq listing under the ticker AGLT. Those order and fundraising figures come from company-prepared SPAC materials and have not been independently audited.
Boston Dynamics and Tesla
The Globe reported on June 24 that Boston Dynamics will consolidate production of Spot, Atlas and Stretch in a new $100 million Waltham facility, and that Hyundai, which became the sole owner after buying SoftBank’s stake for $325 million, plans a gradual rollout of Atlas beginning in Hyundai’s automotive plants. Our companion report on the Boston robotics cluster is in the series below. Tesla, according to the same article, said it is shutting production of two slow-selling models to build a line capable of making a million Optimus robots per year. That is a stated capacity target; we found no verified delivery of Optimus robots to outside customers.
The China race
The Globe, citing Morgan Stanley, reported that Chinese companies would sell 50,000 humanoid robots this year and 446,000 by 2030, while US firms “are playing catch-up.” Those are a bank’s projections. They are not shipment data, and definitions of “humanoid” (wheeled bases, partial torsos) vary between forecasters.
What is verified versus claimed
- Verified by a primary release: BMW’s deployment history and the Figure 03 task; Agility’s merger agreement and valuation; Hyundai’s ownership of Boston Dynamics.
- Company claims without public audit: BMW’s and Figure’s assessment of safety and reliability; Agility’s orders; Tesla’s capacity goal.
- Forecasts: Morgan Stanley’s China sales numbers.
Why it matters
Factory logistics tasks such as sorting parts into trolleys are repetitive, and they are where companies are testing whether a general-purpose machine can be cost-competitive with fixed automation. Our analysis: the key indicators to watch are whether pilots turn into multi-site purchase orders, whether companies publish uptime and cost per task, and whether Agility’s SPAC closes on its stated timeline. Broader industrial automation numbers are in our report on industrial software deals and on how AI capability warnings are shaping the debate over physical AI.
Sources
- BMW Group press release: Figure 03 project in Spartanburg (June 25, 2026)
- Boston Globe: Boston Dynamics Waltham expansion (June 24, 2026)
- Agility Robotics: to go public through merger with Churchill Capital Corp XI (June 24, 2026)
- SEC filing: Churchill Capital Corp XI Form 8-K (Oct. 6, 2026)
- Wall Street Journal: Agility to go public in $2.5 billion SPAC deal (June 2026)
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