Tesla Audits Chinese Suppliers as Optimus Robot Nears Mass Production

Boston Dynamics officially opened its Robotics Metaplant Application Center at Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America outside Savannah, Georgia on Monday, transitioning from pilot operations that began in June to full-scale operations. The center serves as a test bed and training center for integrating Atlas humanoids across Hyundai's automotive factories, with Boston Dynamics training the robots to take over repetitive parts sequencing and heavy-lifting tasks over the next few years and component assembly by 2030. Boston Dynamics, which became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hyundai in July, said it plans to begin exploring use cases for Atlas in other industry sectors next year, and will move into a new building at the Georgia site that will make its test bed and training center 10 times its current size. The center is a key part of Hyundai's larger strategy unveiled in January to restructure its manufacturing environments for humans to work safely alongside robots; Hyundai initially plans to deploy 25,000 Atlas units across its global plants, including Kia factories, over the next few years, and will establish a U.S. facility capable of producing 30,000 robots per year, with a location not disclosed. Separately, the Toyota Group aims to deploy close to 400,000 robots to update its aging factories and supplier network, starting in 2028 with 150,000 units across Toyota Motor Corp. and the Toyota Group plus 250,000 units at various suppliers, a total that includes replacement of existing robots and new units such as humanoids; Toyota's factory automation efforts could cost up to $6.4 billion per year, according to Reuters.